MEDIA ALERT: International Migratory Waterbird Conference in Madagascar

For immediate release





MEDIA ALERT

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATORY WATERBIRD
CONFERENCE

IN MADAGASCAR : 15 - 19 September
2008

Over 150 representatives of government
and non-governmental organisations as well as waterbird
experts from 80 countries will meet in Madagascar to discuss
urgent conservation responses necessary to reverse the declines
of many migratory waterbird species along the African-Eurasian
Flyways.


Bonn / Antananarivo, 4 September
2008
- The meeting will highlight
most recent findings showing continuing declines of many
waterbird species in Africa and Eurasia and delegates will
be discussing how best to restore the status of these species
to meet the target of halting the decline of global biodiversity
by 2010.

“Flyway conservation at
work – review of the past, vision for the future”

is the theme of the Fourth Meeting of the Parties (MOP4)
to the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian
Migratory Waterbirds (UNEP/AEWA) – a United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP)-backed treaty dedicated to
the conservation of species such as ducks, waders, storks,
flamingos and many other migratory waterbirds which use
the major bird migration routes along the African-Eurasian
Flyways.



Highlights of the meeting from 15-19 September in
Antananarivo
will include:

  • The release of new population trends for all AEWA protected
    waterbird species (Status Report);
  • The presentation of a new study on the effects of climate
    change on migratory waterbirds;
  • Over 21 Resolutions on a number of issues affecting
    migratory waterbirds in Africa and Eurasia, such as the
    spread of Avian Influenza (H5N1), lead shot hunting in
    wetlands and climate change;
  • The adoption of new International Action Plans for
    a number of AEWA species, including the Lesser Flamingo,
    Lesser White-fronted Goose, Eurasian Spoonbill and the
    Madagascar Pond-Heron.

The international meeting will take place
at the Carlton Hotel, Antananarivo, Madagascar
and is being organised by the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat and
the Ministry of the Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT)
of Madagascar.

UNEP/AEWA is an international environmental
treaty dedicated to the protection of 235 species of waterbirds
which migrate along the African-Eurasian Flyways. Countries
which have become Parties to the Agreement commit to putting
measures in place to conserve the region's waterbird populations
and the habitats on which they depend. Currently 62 Parties
out of 118 Range States in Africa and Eurasia have joined
AEWA.

For more information please contact:

Mr. Florian Keil, Information Officer,
UNEP/AEWA Secretariat on Tel: +49 (0) 228 8152451,

Mobile: +49 (0)151 14701633, E-mail: aewa@unep.de

Ms Arindranto Andriamialisoa, MEFT Cabinet
/ Attaché de Presse, Tel: +261 (0)32 0537715,

Mobile: +261(0)33 15 37715, Email: ari_ndranto@yahoo.fr

Or visit our press page: www.unep-aewa.org/press

Last updated on 16 June 2014