MOP4 paved the way for a further successful quadriennium
Invited by the Government of Madagascar, over 150 representatives of government and non-governmental organisations as well as waterbird experts from 80 countries met in Antananarivo from 15-19 September for the 4th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement. These delegates represented 47 Contracting Parties including the European Commission, 25 Non-Contracting Parties, 8 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), 9 national NGOs, 3 intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) and 2 international agencies. [read on]
Pre-MOP Training Workshop for AEWA Negotiators
A two-day training workshop to “enhance the capacity of AEWA negotiators” took place directly prior to the 4th Meeting of the Parties (MOP4) to AEWA in Antananarivo, Madagascar from 13-14 September 2008. The workshop was attended by 30 delegates from Anglophone African countries and aimed to strengthen and sharpen the negotiation skills of the participants prior to the upcoming MOP. [read on]
"African Initiative for the conservation of migratory waterbirds and their habitats in Africa"
The creation of the so-called “African Initiative” which provides the mandate to strengthen capacity for waterbird and habitat conservation throughout Africa can be seen as one of the major outcomes of MOP4. Resolution 4.9 on the African Initiative especially requests the development of an Action Plan for Africa and the establishment of a post for an Officer to coordinate AEWA activities in Africa. [read on]
AEWA Parties have embarked on an ambitious Strategic Plan
The first Strategic Plan for AEWA was approved by the Parties to the Agreement at MOP4. The Strategic Plan is intended to provide a coherent and strategic framework for implementation of the Agreement by its constituents: the Contracting Parties, its governing bodies (the Standing Committee and the Technical Committee), its Secretariat and the partners to the Agreement. Valid for the period 2009-2017 the Plan sets a number of ambitious targets to achieve. [read on]
Two new guidelines to assist Parties in tackling threats to migratory waterbirds
MOP4 adopted two new guidelines to complement the set of ten previously introduced guidelines to help Parties in tackling certain threats to migratory waterbirds. The first guidelines provide advice on approaches to prevent infrastructure developments and associated disturbance posing a profound threat to migratory waterbirds. The focus of the second guidelines is on the measures that Parties and other stakeholders may undertake in mitigating the effects of climate change on migratory waterbirds. [read on]
MOP4 agreed on coordinated action for the recovery of another seven AEWA species
Four intra-African, two African-Eurasian and one Eurasian migratory species are now targeted by coordinated action by AEWA Parties to reverse their negative population trends. International Single Species Action Plans for these species were agreed and adopted by MOP4. For the Lesser White-fronted Goose the new plan is a revision of the SSAP approved in 1996 by CMS, the Bern Convention and the EU. For the Black-tailed Godwit the new plan supersedes and extends the management plan of the EU of 2007 to a flyway level. [read on]
A set of international implementation reviews informed the decisions of MOP4
A set of seven international reviews on the implementation of the Agreement were submitted to MOP4. Five of these reviews are required by paragraph 7.4 of the AEWA Action Plan, another review was required by the Parties in the International Implementation Priorities for 2006-2008 and the seventh and last review was requested from the Technical Committee in Resolution 3.17. These extensive and informative papers provided an insight into the progress achieved so far regarding the implementation of various aspects of AEWA or the status of native or introduced waterbird populations, as well as impacts of certain factors on AEWA species and their habitats.[read on]
Establishment of an Implementation Review Process
The 4th session of the Meeting of Parties gave the green light for the establishment of an Implementation Review Process (IRP). Although the implementation of the Agreement has taken off since AEWA entered into force in 1999, the outcomes of seven international reviews prepared to assess the state of implementation of the Agreement and presented at the meeting have clearly shown that more efforts are needed. [read on]
MOP4 Multimedia - photos, videos, news and more!
AEWA MOP4 in Antananarivo was a meeting with many highlights. In fact, as any report writer or environmental journalist can confirm, capturing the essence of an international meeting such as the AEWA MOP4 is always a challenge. Although no words, technology or camera lens can really convey "the full reality of actually being there in person" - a number of multimedia resources on MOP4 exist, which can help convey some of what went on inside and along the corridors of the meeting. [read on]
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