Working Groups
AEWA International Species Working Groups and Expert Groups – Coordination of AEWA Species Action and Management Plan implementation
After their adoption by the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP), the implementation of certain AEWA International Species Action and Management Plans (ISSAPs and ISMPs) is further enhanced by the establishment of coordination mechanisms in the form of AEWA International Species Working Groups and Expert Groups.
The purpose of these Groups is to coordinate the implementation of the respective plans amongst range states and all relevant stakeholders, while focusing on urgent priority measures and further developing the conservation of the species.
The establishment of inter-governmental AEWA International Species Working Groups is foreseen for prioritized AEWA Single Species Action and Management Plans. Species Working Groups are convened by the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat in accordance with generic Terms of Reference developed and adopted by the AEWA Technical Committee.
In August 2005, concerns about the role of migratory birds as potential vectors of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus subtype H5N1 led the UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), in close cooperation with the Agreement on the Conservation of African Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), to establish a Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds.