Celebrating 25 Years of AEWA

Over the past 25 years, a group of dedicated countries, organizations and people from across the African-Eurasian region have worked together in a common effort to protect migratory waterbirds and the habitats they need to survive. The work they have done collectively has been guided and carried out under the framework of an intergovernmental treaty called AEWA - the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.

To mark the 25th Anniversary of the treaty, the AEWA Secretariat has put together this dedicated webpage, which brings together some of the history and highlights of the past 25 years of international waterbird conservation under AEWA.  It also features an exciting new film that is being launched globally to coincide with the anniversary, which highlights the importance of a few of the critical waterbird sites found across the African-Eurasian Flyway. Last but not least, the visitor to this page will also find a growing collection of 25th Anniversary Statements by people that have helped shape and guide the work of the treaty to date.

 

 PRESS RELEASE: Celebrating 25 Years of International Waterbird Conservation

 

 

...

The primary objective of AEWA is to protect waterbirds all along the African-Eurasian Flyway. Progressively many tools have been developed: guidelines on many issues including renewable energy and on the monitoring of waterbirds, to mention just two; international action plans for endangered species and more recently an Implementation Review Mechanism. The DNA of AEWA is clearly innovation and partnership, bringing together not only governmental authorities but also all stakeholders, from large NGOs to local partners. (Read more)

Dr. Jacques Trouvilliez, Executive Secretary of AEWA

 

 

 

 Birth of a Treaty

A significant date in the development of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is 16 June 1995 – twenty-five years ago – when negotiators representing 54 governments signed the ‘Final Act’.  The rest is – as they say – history. [Read more]

 

Negotiation meeting: The team coordinating the work at the formal negotiation meeting, June 1995, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague, The Netherlands.

 

 

 

 People Behind AEWA

To mark the 25th Anniversary of the Agreement, the AEWA Secretariat has received statements from some of the key people who have helped shape the Agreement into what it is today, including from the two Honorary Patrons of AEWA. Their anniversary statements can be found below and more statements from across the flyway will be added to the dedicated 25th Anniversary Statements page over the course of the year. [Read more]

 

Carola Schouten

Carola Schouten

Minister for Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality

"As the Dutch Minister for Nature, I am proud that the Netherlands was involved in the creation of this Agreement and that AEWA has grown from 14 Parties then, to 80 Parties today."

[Read more]

 

Christiane Paulus

Christiane Paulus 

Director-General, BMU

"We trust that AEWA will continue to play a strong role in international nature conservation for waterbirds in the future, and that the Secretariat will continue to work hard to address the many challenges facing waterbird conservation today, such as habitat loss and climate change."

[Read more]

 

Gerard C. Boere

Gerard C. Boere

Honorary Patron & Founding Father of AEWA

"Just above my working place at home in Gorssel is my copy of the book on the history of AEWA with all the signatures and nice words of the AEWA ‘family’ present in 2010 in The Hague to celebrate 15 years of AEWA."

[Read more]

 

David Stroud

David Stroud

Honorary Patron of AEWA

"For a quarter of a century, AEWA has provided an effective response by connecting people who care about waterbirds. [...] Waterbirds need our help and they need it now more than ever before."

[Read more]

 

Simon Mackown

Simon Mackown

Chair of the Standing Committee of AEWA

"The successes of the Agreement are many and are ultimately due to the commitment, expertise and professionalism of all these individuals. "

[Read more]

 

Øystein Størkersen

Øystein Størkersen

Former Chair of the Standing Committee

"AEWA is a favourite of mine among Conventions, simply because it deals with concrete issues, such as species or concrete sites and it gives strong guidance through obligatory requirements."

[Read more]

 

Dr. Akankwasah Barirega

Akankwasah Barirega

Former Chair of the Standing Committee

"AEWA has over time raised the profile of waterbird conservation on the African Continent."

[Read more]

 

Amy Fraenkel

Amy Fraenkel

Executive Secretary of CMS

"AEWA has demonstrated both effective international collaboration and strong implementation on the ground and its achievements to date have been remarkable."

[Read more]

 

Ashok Sridharan

Ashok Sridharan

Mayor of the City of Bonn

"It is with gratitude that we look up to the sky every autumn around UN Day - when the common cranes pass Bonn on their way to Africa."

[Read more]

 

Bert Lenten

Bert Lenten

Former AEWA Executive Secretary

" I really hope that AEWA will receive the support to go from strength to strength and that looking back in 25 years from now we can say ‘Yes, we managed to maintain and/ or restore all the species listed under AEWA and ensure they have favourable conservation status’. This would be a legacy for our children and grandchildren, a legacy of which we could be proud."

[Read more]

 

 

 

 


Take Part in the Conversation 

See the Social Media Pack for Inspiration


 

 

 Call for Cooperation

To coincide with the 25th Anniversary, the AEWA Secretariat and partners across the African-Eurasian Flyway developed a new ten minute film called “A Call for Cooperation: Saving the Places Migratory Birds Call Home”. The film was produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Center for Conservation Media and showcases the importance and beauty of a number of critical sites for migratory waterbirds found across the African-Eurasian Flyway. [Read more]

 

 

 

 

 

Gerard C. Boere

 

History of AEWA

15 Years of AEWA

To mark the 15th anniversary of AEWA, Dr Gerard C. Boere, an official of the Dutch Environment Ministry, who was one of the main driving forces behind the Agreement, wrote a book: ‘The History of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds’. The book covers the Agreement’s development and implementation in the period 1985-2000, within the broader context of waterbird and wetlands conservation.

[Read more]

 


 

Stories from the Flyway

 

Stories from the Flyway

20 Years of AEWA

To mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of AEWA, a commemorative coffee-table book entitled ‘Stories from the Flyway’ (‘Histoires de la voie de migration’) was produced by the AEWA Secretariat. The limited edition publication contains stunning photos of twenty key species listed in the Agreement’s appendices – all of them subject of species action or management plans and coordinated international efforts for their conservation or sustainable use. The idea behind the book was not only to present a selection of the spectacular waterbirds and their inspiring migrations covered by AEWA but also to highlight the extraordinary AEWA network: all the numerous people throughout the Agreement area who dedicate their efforts to these species.

[Read on]

 

 


Photo Credits:

25th Anniversary Mosaic : Arctic Tern © Sergey Dereliev, www.dereliev-photography.com; Cape Gannet © jacme31/Flickr.com; Eurasian Spoonbill © Anastasios Paul Leventis; White Stork © pixabay.com; Pink-footed Geese © Magnus Elander; Atlantic Puffin © pixabay.com; African Penguin © Sergey Dereliev, www.dereliev-photography.com; Black-tailed Godwit © Hans Overduin; Lesser Flamingos © Mark D. Anderson; Grey Crowned-crane © pixabay.com; Great White Pelicans © Sergey Dereliev, www.dereliev-photography.com; Northern Bald Ibis © Christoph Moning