Governments throughout the Mediterranean have agreed the need for tougher penalties and stricter surveillance in order to enforce a new “zero tolerance” policy that seeks to clamp down on the annual slaughter of millions of migratory birds in the region.

The Secretariat of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) is calling for applications for the 2015 cycle of the AEWA Small Grants Fund. The AEWA Small Grants Fund aims to promote the implementation of AEWA in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce that three projects from three AEWA Contracting Parties in Africa - Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and Togo - have been selected for funding under the 2014 cycle of the AEWA Small Grants Fund (SGF). A total of USD 42,900 will be disbursed to support the implementation of these three projects. The evaluation of the 2014 cycle could only be concluded in 2015, due to administrative and logistics constraints.

South Africa became a Contracting Party to AEWA in April 2002. The dedicated South African team hosted the African Regional Preparatory meeting for the 6th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement in Cape Town from the 25-27 August 2015 in support of the African Initiative.

New Action Plan for Seabirds, Eurasian Curlew, Grey Crowned Crane, Long-tailed Duck, Northern Bald Ibis, Shoebill and Taiga Bean Goose Adopted

One lesson that has been well and truly learned in nature conservation is that for policies to be really effective countries have to collaborate to address common problems.

Waterbird populations across the African-Eurasian flyway are on a downward trend, with declining populations outstripping growing ones by almost 50 per cent, shows the latest conservation status report compiled for the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) – an inter-governmental treaty administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Bonn, 23 October 2015 - South Africa held its first official celebration of World Migratory Bird Day on October 15, 2015. The event was led by the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mrs.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat organized a Preparatory Meeting for National Focal Points (NFPs) from the AEWA African Contracting Parties, in the run-up to this November’s 6th Meeting of the Parties (MOP6). The Pre-MOP6 meeting is taking place from 25 to 27 August in Cape Town and is being hosted by the Government of South Africa.

Representatives of countries and wildlife experts met in Cape Town, South Africa on 24 August, to address poisoning of migratory birds, a problem that also threatens important predators. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) and the CMS Memorandum of Understanding on Birds of Prey (CMS Raptors MoU), all three instruments administered by the United Nations Environment Programme, have convened the international meeting.