Bonn,
18 March 2011 - As a natural
bridge across the Mediterranean, Italy is a key passage
and wintering area for migrants travelling
between the Palaearctic and Africa. The Italian Migration
Atlas, now available online, offers the most complete
and updated set of information on migratory routes involving
Italy.

The atlas features English versions of the introduction
and materials/methods sections, as well as of captions
to all graphics, figures and summaries of species accounts.
The two volumes show results of analyses of ring recoveries
between 1906-2003. Over 165,000 data refer to 213 species/taxa,
many of which are of direct interest and concern also
from a CMS perspective.

The overall picture provided by the atlas confirms
the crucial role played by Italy as a crossroad for
migrants. Hence the conservation value of the country
and the importance of a detailed knowledge of the movements
of birds originating from huge geographical areas. Also
the flyways and wintering areas of bird populations
breeding in Italy are described in detail.

Being the first migration atlas from a southern European
country, the book offers insight into species- but also
population-specific flyways across the ecological barrier
represented by the Mediterranean. From a perspective
of issues like those tackled by the CMS Flyway Working
Group, the Italian Migration Atlas offers scientific
evidence to be used when planning conservation strategies
for the many bird species involved in the Palaearctic-African
bird migration system.

The Atlas can be downloaded from the website of the
Institute
for Environmental Protection and Research.
.

A summary, introduction and instructions on how to
access the contents of the 2 volumes are available in
English.