Welcome to the 8th Session of the Parties to the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) in Budapest. I am delighted that we are able to host the meeting of this international convention, which is so important for nature conservation in Hungary. Although our original plans were thwarted by the Covid epidemic, we have done our utmost to ensure that the meeting can be held in person, albeit a year late.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat would like to inform all participants of the 8th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP8) of a change of the meeting venue, as wel

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat would like to inform all participants of the 8th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP8) of a change of the meeting venue, as well as an adjusted schedule for the meeting. The changes come after the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat was recently informed by the Government of Hungary that the AEWA MOP8 could no longer be hosted at the Hungexpo convention centre, as originally scheduled.

On 15 February 2022, an outbreak of avian influenza was detected at the Prespa National Park, in Greece, resulting in mass mortality events that have severely impacted the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) breeding colony found in the Lesser Prespa Lake. The Dalmatian Pelican is classified as Near Threatened according to the IUCN and is listed under the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) – in Column A (categories 1a & 1c for the Black Sea & Mediterranean population) - and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) – on both appendix I and II. These migratory waterbirds are known to nest in colonies running along south-east Europe to east-central Asia.

The 8th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP8) will take place on 26 – 30 September 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. The Government of Hungary, which had originally invited the MOP8 to take place in October 2021 in the framework of the ‘One with Nature’ exhibition in Budapest, renewed its kind invitation after MOP8 had to be postponed due to the pandemic and confirmed the dates of 26 – 30 September 2022.

In a historic decision, the use of lead gunshot in wetlands will be banned in all European Union Member States under REACH, the EU’s framework regulation for chemicals. This decision is in response to the provisions of AEWA and marks one of the greatest conservation achievements in the 25-year history of the Agreement. No other single measure implemented under AEWA to date will have had such a wide-reaching impact on the overall well-being of the migratory waterbirds AEWA was conceived to protect.

Dr. Nikolai Petkov of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) is one of this year’s winners of the prestigious awards granted by the Whitley Fund for Nature to local conservation leaders. Also called ‘Green Oscars’, these high-profile awards provide various types of grants to enable conservationists to scale up their vital work and make a real and measurable difference to wildlife and local communities.

The 15th Meeting of the AEWA Technical Committee took place from 9 to 11 April at the UN Premises in Bonn, Germany. This was the first meeting of the AEWA Technical Committee since the 7th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA, which was held in Durban, South Africa in December 2018 as well as the first meeting in the implementation period of the Strategic Plan 2019-2027. The Technical Committee provides the scientific advice and expertise which is essential for the implementation of the Agreement.

The Circumpolar Seabird Expert Group (CBird) under the Arctic Council Working Group for the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) came together for its annual meeting at the CAFF Secretariat offices in Akureyri, Iceland from 26 to 29 March 2019. CBird promotes, facilitates, and coordinates conservation, management and research activities among circumpolar countries and improves communication between seabird scientists and managers inside and outside the Arctic. The group consists of national representatives, Permanent Participants , observer countries and organizations.