WOW Flyway News: CSN Tool wins ESRI award and FTK now available in other languages!
These tools will not only help improve international waterbird and wetland conservation management, training and decision-making in and beyond the AEWA context in the years to come, they are also currently winning international prizes, being featured in birding magazines as well as being translated into French, Arabic and Russian. Here is a round-up of some of this exciting post- WOW news:
Critical Site Network (CSN) Tool wins award for “Best Interactive Web Map”!
The Critical Site Network (CSN) Tool has won the first prize of the ESRI/SCGIS International Conservation Mapping Competition in the category “Best Interactive Web Map” on 21 June 2011. ESRI is a major software development and services company providing Geographic Information Software (GIS) and the latest geodatabase management applications which are also being used in the Critical Site Network (CSN) Tool. From over 100 entries representing countries and projects from around the world, the CSN Tool was recognized as one of the best web-based conservation mapping tools. “This prize is a great honor for us and remunerates us for all the sleepless nights that we spent on developing this tool” said Andrew Cottam, one of the main developers of the CSN Tool.
The CSN Tool (accessible through the WOW website: www.wingsoverwetlands.org/csntool) is an open-access online resource to support the conservation of 294 species of waterbirds and the important sites upon which they depend in Africa and western Eurasia. It is designed to help a range of different users, from site managers to national authorities and international organizations, access information on waterbirds and the sites they depend on. The CSN Tool supports both AEWA and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. It is also relevant to the EU Birds Directive and the Bern Convention’s Emerald Network.
For more information please visit the following links:
- Press Release (21 June 2011): Esri and SCGIS Announce Winners of Conservation Mapping Contest
- The SCGIS/ESRI/SCB International Conservation Mapping Contest SOCIETY & WEB CATEGORY FINALISTS AND AWARDS
- Selected video interviews with members of the CSN Tool development team:
Andrew Cottam | Vicky Jones | Szabolcs Nagy | Lincoln Fishpool
- The Critical Site Network (CSN) Tool: www.wingsoverwetlands.org/csntool
CSN Tool & FTK highlighted in Africa Birds & Birding magazine
“Cool Tool - Tracking Africa’s migratory waterbirds” is the title of one of the main articles being featured in the June/July 2011 edition of Africa – Birds & Birding magazine. The feature article highlights both the Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Project’s Critical Site Network (CSN) Tool and the Flyway Training Kit (FTK) and explains how both tools can be used to improve conservation of migratory waterbirds with a particular focus on Africa. The article was written by Tim Dodman, who is also an experienced trainer and a co-compiler and editor of the FTK.
For more information please visit:
WOW Flyway Training Kit now available in French and Arabic
The Flyway Training Kit (FTK) is now available as a hardcopy flexible binder in both English and French. Electronic versions of the Flyway Training Kit have also been produced in English, French and Arabic and are all available for download from the WOW Website. In addition, the Russian language version is expected to be finalized shortly and will be added to the WOW website as soon as it becomes available.
The WOW FTK is the result of a broad collaborative effort among many donors, partners and training institutes across the African-Eurasian region and is intended to build professional capacity to plan, implement, monitor and engage in effective flyway-scale conservation of migratory waterbirds and wetland habitats in the AEWA region.
The FTK package includes three modules covering the topic of flyway conservation with example-rich text, case studies and exercises, presented in a flexible ring-bound format and supported by a comprehensive set of PowerPoint presentations, as well as accompanying CDs with a range of supporting material.
While the development of the FTK was covered by the WOW Project, funding is now urgently needed to support further FTK-based Training of Trainers (ToTs) to be carried out across the AEWA region.
Copies of the FTK (in English & French) are available upon request by writing to: info@wingsoverwetlands.org
Electronic versions of the FTK can be downloaded free of charge on the following website: wwww.wingsoverwetlands.org/flywaytrainingkit
About WOW
The Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Project was a USD 12 million initiative funded by The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the German Government, the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat and many other donors. The project was successfully implemented from 2006 - 2010 and was a joint effort between Wetlands International, BirdLife International, the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, UNOPS, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre and a range of other local partners in Africa and Eurasia.
For more information please see:
Last updated on 23 April 2018