The Ramsar Convention Uses the WOW Flyway Training Kit to Promote the Flyway Approach to the Conservation and Wise Use of Waterbirds and Wetlands in Africa

Bonn, 21 October 2012 - The Ramsar Convention Secretariat, in collaboration with the Senghor University, at Al-Alexandria, in Egypt, are in the process of integrating training modules of the WOW Flyway Training Kit (FTK) into a masters curriculum of this University.

The Training Kit on the Flyway Approach to the Conservation and Wise Use of Waterbirds and Wetlands (or WOW Flyway Training Kit) is one of the key outcomes of the four year UNEP/GEF African-Eurasian Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Flyways Project which ran from 2006 - 2010.

The FTK training modules were recently introduced by Paul Ouedraogo, the Ramsar Senior Regional Advisor for Africa, while delivering a course on Protected Areas and Wetlands at the department of Environment in Senghor University from 29 September to 11 October 2012.

 

"As manager of wetlands and protected areas, this tool can help us make good planning, ensure proper implementation and better monitoring of species and habitats." said Binta Bâ, one of the master students in Protected Areas Management from Senegal.

The Flyway Training Kit (FTK) provides a series of modules aimed at improving the efforts of different target groups towards the conservation of waterbirds and wetlands. It also serves as a pedagogic tool and reference in training situations.

"What caught most my attention in this kit is its adaptability in the daily tasks that we undertake as managers of protected areas and that this concept of flyways is an innovative concept in the sense that it helps, on a global perspective, strengthening activities for conservation and the development of wetlands." said Binta Bâ.

The Post WOW Partnership Memorandum of Cooperation between the main partners of the Wings Over Wetlands Project, which was signed by the Ramsar Convention, Wetlands International, BirdLife International and the AEWA Secretariat, aims at building on the achievements of the WOW project, including, strengthening capacity in understanding and applying flyway conservation concepts.

The integration of the WOW Flyway Training Kit into the masters course at Senghor University in Egypt also contributes to the implementation of the recently approved AEWA Plan of Action for Africa 2012-2017, which calls for the incorporation of the FTK into the curricula of at least five wildlife training institutions in Africa.

More information on the training course can be found on the Ramsar Website.