On 25-29 September 2006 around 35 experts from the range states of the Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor) met in Nairobi, Kenya and started the process of drafting the International Lesser Flamingo Species Action Plan under the auspices of CMS and AEWA. The workshop was also attended by governmental representatives from the two countries with the largest species population – Tanzania and Kenya. The workshop was organised by the IUCN/Wetlands International Flamingo Specialist Group and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) and co-sponsored by the AEWA Secretariat through a voluntary contribution provided by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

The Lesser Flamingo is the most numerous of all six flamingo species in the world with an East African population of approximately 2 million individuals. However, the remaining three populations, which occur respectively in southern Africa, western Africa, and India, count only a few tens of thousands to several hundred of thousands of individuals. Being an algae-eating long-lived bird the Lesser Flamingo is an irregular and opportunistic breeder: Only four breeding sites of this species are known globally (Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia, India, and probably Mauritania, where the last successful breeding was recorded in the 1960s).

Inappropriate hydrological regimes of wetlands and massive die-offs were among the serious threats identified during the experts’ workshop in Nairobi. Moreover, an analysis of the scientific knowledge made clear that so far very little is known about this relatively numerous species and that basic information is lacking, such as population sizes which are still to be monitored and confirmed. A first draft of the Single Species Action Plan is expected to be available in early 2007 and could be submitted for approval to the next Meeting of the AEWA Standing Committee in the end of 2007 and to the CMS Scientific Council meeting in early 2008.