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Lead Poisoning in Waterfowl: 30 Years of Progress but there Is still Work to Do!

An estimated one million waterbirds fall victim every year to lead poisoning after consuming spent shot.

Thirty years ago, on 13 June 1991, a major international meeting convened to address how to eliminate the poisoning of waterbirds with toxic lead gunshot.  Shot is deposited on the ground whenever it is used and subsequently kills when it is consumed by waterbirds.  The conference was organised by the International Waterbirds and Wetlands Research Bureau (now Wetlands International) and its aim was to review the extent of the problems of lead poisoning throughout the world and identify possible solutions. 

14 June 2021

Study Predicts Climate Change Impact on African-Eurasian Waterbirds

The Red-knobbed Coot is one of the species that is exposed to the effects of climate change. © Derek Keats

A new study carried out by an international team of experts suggests that migratory waterbirds which use the African-Eurasian Flyways are particularly exposed to the effects of climate change in Africa and at their breeding areas in the High Arctic.  The research paper published in the journal Bird Conservation International (BCI) is based on modelling of climatic and hydrological conditions under current and future climate scenarios (in 2050) and compares the impact of climate change on the distribution of 197 of the 255 waterbird species listed under the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA).

30 April 2021

Sing, Fly, Soar – Like a Bird!

“Sing, Fly, Soar – Like a Bird!” is the theme of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day © Sara Wolman

“Sing, Fly, Soar – Like a Bird!” is the theme of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day, an annual global campaign dedicated to raising awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. This year the campaign will focus on the phenomena of “bird song” and “bird flight” as a way to inspire and connect people of all ages around the world in their shared desire to celebrate migratory birds and to unite in a common, global effort to protect birds and the habitats they need to survive.

15 April 2021

In Memoriam Zoltán Czirák (1970-2021)

Zoltán Czirák a passionate conservationist and the AEWA National Focal Point for Hungary passed away on 23 March 2021.

It is with great sadness, that we have learned, that Zoltán Czirák, National Focal Point for AEWA in Hungary and a member of the AEWA Standing Committee, passed away tragically and quickly on 23 March 2021 following COVID-19 complications. Zoltán Czirák was a passionate conservationist, who dedicated his whole life to species conservation. Up until recently, he worked as a biodiversity expert and advisor and was the head of the Unit of Nature Conservation Agreements in the Biodiversity and Gene Conservation Department of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture.

30 March 2021

AEWA Technical Committee Paves Way for the 8th Meeting of Parties

Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)

The 16th Meeting of the AEWA Technical Committee (TC16) was held virtually from 25 to 29 January 2021, with a record attendance of 61 participants from over 30 countries. The meeting brought together experts from a wide spectrum of fields as well as 14 Party Observers, several MEAs and partner organisations, making it the largest TC meeting ever conducted in the history of the Agreement.

03 February 2021

25 Years of AEWA – Statement by Bert Lenten, Former AEWA Executive Secretary

25 Years of AEWA – Statement by Bert Lenten, former AEWA Executive Secretary © Sergey Dereliev, www.dereliev-photography.com

Celebrating this anniversary is a good time for reflection on what has been achieved since AEWA was concluded in 1995. Twenty-five years ago, I was working for the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries of the Netherlands and, to be honest, I was not even aware that a species treaty for migratory waterbirds had been developed by my own ministry. I was working at the regional level and probably did not receive information on this important event that took place in The Hague, the Netherlands.

08 January 2021

Turkmenistan Accedes to AEWA

Flag of Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan has acceded to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) bringing the number of Parties to that Agreement to 82. Turkmenistan has also acceded to the Convention becoming the 132nd Party.

31 December 2020

EU Takes Historic Decision to Ban the Use of Lead Shot for Hunting in Wetlands

New EU legislation will put a halt to the annual death of an estimated one million waterbirds © Colin Butters, WWT

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.

27 November 2020

New Lesser White-fronted Goose Flyway Project Approved under EU LIFE

Lesser White-fronted Goose © Tomas Aarvak/NOF

A new five-year flyway project ‘Providing a climate resilient network of critical sites for the Lesser White-fronted Goose in Europe’ (LIFE19 NAT/LT/000898) has received final approval under the EU LIFE funding mechanism, and is expected to provide a considerable boost to the implementation of coordinated conservation action for this globally threatened species.

18 November 2020