Waterbird data in seven AEWA African Contracting Parties along the high-priority West-Asian/East African Flyway received a boost under a project supporting the International Waterbird Census (IWC). Over the period 2016 - 2017, waterbird counts were carried out at some 100 sites in Burundi, Chad, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Thanks to financial support provided by the AEWA Small Grants Fund (SGF), the Forestry Department (Direction des Ressources Forestières, DRF) of the Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources (MERF) of Togo successfully organized a training workshop on waterbird counting and monitoring. The training, which took place on 7-8 July 2016 in Lomé, targeted the national waterbird counting network, of which 15 technical members participated, as well as relevant local riverine communities, which were represented by five participants. 

Although the most important wetlands in terms of their conservation value for waterbirds of the African-Eurasian Flyway – such as the Banc d’Arguin in Mauritania or the Wadden Sea in Europe – are often far removed from large cities, the ones located in or around towns play a vital role in maintaining the chain of sites stretching between the Arctic and the southernmost tip of the African continent.

The Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (UNEP/AEWA) would like to inform you that the 7^th Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP

The AEWA Northern Bald Ibis International Working Group (NBI IWG) comprises the eight principal Range States of the two populations of Northern Bald Ibis. Five of them came together for the 2nd meeting of the NBI IWG in Agadir, Morocco from 25 to 27 September 2017. This meeting followed the first gathering of the Group in November 2012 in Jizan, Saudi Arabia where the revision of the International Single Species Action Plan for this critically endangered species was launched, which was later adopted at MOP6 in 2015.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce the accession of the Republic of Botswana as AEWA’s 77th Party. Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa and has borders with Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The country has an area of just over 600,000 km2 and a population of 1.6 million making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world; the capital is Gaborone. The country is relatively flat with seventy per cent of the territory dominated by the Kalahari Desert.

The foundations of the AEWA Plan of Action for Africa (PoAA) 2019-2027 were laid at a successful workshop in Dakar, Senegal which took place at the Ngor Diarama Hotel from 10 to 12 October. The Working Group for the development of the plan identified and discussed the key issues to be captured in the PoAA 2019-2017 which will define the next decade of migratory waterbird conservation in Africa. The three-day workshop was attended by some 30 participants representing the African Contracting Parties, the Standing Committee and Technical Committee, non-African Parties, AEWA partner organizations as well as the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat.

A Workshop of the Working Group for the development of the AEWA Plan of Action for Africa (PoAA) 2019-2027 is taking place from 10-12 October 2017 in Dakar, Senegal. The workshop will serve to initiate the development process for the Plan of Action for Africa. The Working Group includes representatives of AEWA African Contracting Parties, the AEWA Standing Committee and Technical Committee as well as observers from non-African Parties and AEWA partner organizations, and also the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat.

The Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (UNEP/AEWA) is pleased to inform you that the Republic of Botswana will become a Contracting Party to A

Four projects from AEWA Contracting Parties in Africa have been selected for funding under the latest cycle of the AEWA Small Grants Fund. The projects – from Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria and Zimbabwe - will receive a total of some USD 40,000 for conservation activities that will benefit AEWA species and their habitats. The successful project proposals were selected from among 19 entries submitted from 14 African countries, following an evaluation and approval process that involved the AEWA Technical and Standing Committees as well as the AEWA Secretariat.