A boost to migratory waterbird conservation along the coast of West Africa

Bonn, 18 December 2009 - Efforts towards the conservation of migratory waterbirds along the coast of West Africa will hopefully soon be strengthened through a project being developed under the leadership of BirdLife International and funded by the MAVA Foundation.

A four-day project development workshop, jointly organised by BirdLife International and Wetlands International, took place in Dakar, Senegal from 16 - 19 November 2009 to develop a logical framework for the project proposal.

The workshop brought together representatives of government institutions and civil society organizations in the implementing countries along the coast of West Africa (Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Mauritania), BirdLife International partner organizations (including the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), Wetlands International and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)), as well as international experts in the field of migratory waterbird conservation. The AEWA Secretariat was represented at the workshop by Ms. Evelyn Moloko, Coordinator for the African Initiative who informed the participants about AEWA activities, including the newly developed African Initiative.

The main outcome of this workshop was a proposed list of key sites and waterbird species for future field conservation activities along the coast of West Africa; the identification of major threats to migratory waterbirds and their habitats in this area; the identification of gaps in legislative policy and advocacy framework; and the identification of relevant existing activities and initiatives for future collaboration. It was recommended that the flyway approach for migratory waterbird conservation, the distinctive feature of AEWA, be emphasized in this project, as it covers several countries and a large part of the AEWA Agreement Area. In addition, the complete AEWA List of Species was recommended for consideration in research and monitoring activities, with particular attention to species occurring in and/or passing through West Africa.

The final product of this workshop will be a 4-year project proposal aimed at guiding BirdLife International’s conservation measures along the coast of West Africa and involving an indispensable international coalition of stakeholders and partners for the management and implementation of conservation, research and monitoring activities.

One of the strengths of this project will be the involvement of a wide range of relevant stakeholders concerned with migratory waterbird conservation in the project area. The AEWA Secretariat was pleased to be able to participate in this workshop and looks forward to future collaboration in the framework of existing activities and initiatives involving the West African Coast; the Wings Over Wetlands Project, the WetCap Project and the African Initiative, amongst others. For more information on the workshop and the project proposal, please see the BirdLife International website.