UN launches project on bird migration routes in Africa and Eurasia

“The WOW project is unique in combining a flyway-level perspective with an emphasis on practical conservation at the site and country level” says Leon Bennun, Director of Science, Policy and Information at BirdLife International. “Waterbird migations are an extraordinary and very valuable natural phenomenon, which this project will help safeguard for the future.” Through its unique flyway-scale conservation approach, Wings Over Wetlands will enhance international conservation efforts to improve the conditions and management of waterbirds and key wetland sites. The project will also pull together currently disparate data to create a flyway-level information portal that can assist conservation efforts and facilitate appropriate policy responses across the region. The central web-based resource is being developed by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre and will enhance the ability to identify the networks of key sites throughout Africa and Eurasia migratory waterbirds use and depend on during their seasonal migrations.

The WOW Project was designed and is now being implemented as a collaborative effort between Wetlands International and BirdLife International, with support from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and UNEP/GEF.  WOW operates in close coordination with the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat, the Ramsar Convention Secretariat and a wide range of local and international partners along the African-Eurasian flyways. “WOW is particularly significant as it will help countries to simultaneously deliver their commitments under a number of key Multilateral Environmental Agreements through one set of coordinated actions”, says Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention Secretariat. “It is a unique chance to protect migratory waterbirds.  Only in cooperation with all countries on their route, can we conserve these species for the future” says Jane Madgwick, CEO of Wetlands International, one of the main NGOs leading this project.

"WOW supports the implementation of the AEWA Agreement in all 119 of its range states in Africa and Eurasia. We are working closely with the WOW team to maximize the involvement and collaboration with all our partners and countries across the AEWA region” says Bert Lenten, Executive Secretary of AEWA, the international treaty dedicated to the conservation of waterbirds in Africa and Eurasia. Migratory waterbirds and the wetlands they use to complete their seasonal migrations are indispensable components of biodiversity and represent enormous recreational and economic benefits. Their ecology is still poorly understood and habitats and species are under increasing threat worldwide. WOW will help identify sites that are critically important for waterbirds to complete their annual life cycle such as staging areas and wintering grounds that will be useful in assessing problems these species encounter on their annual journeys.

“Migrating birds see no borders. Conserving them and their critical habitats may only be achieved through improved collaboration between national governments, local and international conservation organizations and local communities. The WOW initiative will facilitate the exchange of expertise and synergies between a broad range of partners towards this common goal” concludes Edoardo Zandri, Chief Technical Advisor of the WOW Project.