African-Eurasian Flyway Partnership

African-Eurasian Flyway Partnership
Name	African-Eurasian Flyway Partnership
Formation	2002
Type	Multilateral conservation partnership
Region served	Africa, Europe, Asia
Headquarters	Bonn
Parent organization	Convention on Migratory Species

African-Eurasian Flyway Partnership is an intergovernmental and interorganizational initiative that coordinates conservation of migratory waterbirds and their wetland habitats across the African-Eurasian Flyway. The Partnership links species conservation with habitat management, policy instruments, and multinational cooperation involving states, conventions, and non-governmental organizations. It brings together treaty bodies, funding mechanisms, research institutions, and field practitioners to address transboundary threats to migratory birds.

Overview

The Partnership operates within frameworks such as the Convention on Migratory Species, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, and the European Union policy apparatus, aligning with programs led by the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the World Bank. It mobilizes technical expertise from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the BirdLife International Partnership, and regional entities like the African Union, the Council of Europe, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations observer forums. Funding and support come through mechanisms associated with the Global Environment Facility, the European Commission, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, and philanthropic actors such as the Mava Foundation and the Rufford Foundation.

History and Development

Origins trace to multilateral discussions involving the Convention on Wetlands parties and the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands after meetings between delegations from Kenya, United Kingdom, and Netherlands in the late 1990s. Formal establishment followed consultations with signatories to the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds signatory states, and stakeholders including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wetlands International network, and the International Water Management Institute. Early development featured pilot projects in wetlands such as the Okavango Delta, the Kafue Flats, the Camargue, and the Sundarbans, and technical cooperation involving the Global Flyway Network and the BirdLife Africa Secretariat.

Objectives and Governance

Primary objectives include conserving migratory waterbird populations listed under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds and maintaining critical habitats recognized by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Governance is coordinated through steering groups comprising representatives from the Convention on Migratory Species Secretariat, the Ramsar Secretariat, the European Commission Directorate-General for Environment, and national focal points from states such as Egypt, Spain, Pakistan, and South Africa. The Partnership integrates advice from technical bodies including the Scientific Council of the Convention on Migratory Species, the IUCN Species Survival Commission, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. It also engages financial partners like the World Bank Group and bilateral agencies including the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

Key Conservation Activities

Activities encompass site designation assistance for Ramsar sites in wetlands such as the Wadden Sea, the Doñana National Park, and Lake Chad, management plans for protected areas including the Niokolo-Koba National Park and the Gambian River Basin, and species action plans for taxa like the Common Crane, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Sociable Lapwing, Greater Flamingo, and Eurasian Spoonbill. It supports capacity building delivered with partners like Wetlands International, BirdLife International, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and implements threat mitigation projects addressing illegal hunting in hotspots including the Mediterranean Flyway, bycatch reduction with the Food and Agriculture Organization, and habitat restoration in deltas coordinated with the World Wildlife Fund. Community engagement draws on models used by the Kuk Early Warning System and the Mangrove Action Project.

Participating Countries and Organizations

The Partnership brings together Parties and partners from states across continents including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Greece, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mali, Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Namibia, and partners such as BirdLife International, Wetlands International, International Union for Conservation of Nature, RSPB, WWF International, Food and Agriculture Organization, UNESCO, United Nations Environment Programme, European Commission, Global Environment Facility, World Bank, MAVA Foundation, and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund.

Monitoring, Research, and Data Sharing

Monitoring initiatives rely on standardized survey protocols developed with the International Waterbird Census and data platforms including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the European Bird Census Council, and the eBird project by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Research partnerships link academic institutions like Imperial College London, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Cape Town, Peking University, University of Nairobi, Wageningen University, Sciences Po, and University of Tokyo to conservation NGOs and agencies such as the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and German Agency for International Cooperation. Data sharing protocols reference biodiversity data standards promoted by the Group on Earth Observations and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to inform adaptive management and national reporting to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.

Challenges and Future Directions

Key challenges include coordinating policy across jurisdictions affected by conflicts like Darfur, economic development initiatives by actors such as the Asian Development Bank and China Belt and Road Initiative, and climate impacts observed in the Sahel drought and Arabian Peninsula heatwaves. Future directions emphasize strengthening transboundary governance with instruments like the Bonn Convention instruments, scaling nature-based solutions demonstrated in the Mekong River Commission basin, increasing finance through the Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Facility replenishments, and enhancing community-based conservation models inspired by the Convention on Biological Diversity programmes and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Continued collaboration with scientific networks including the Global Flyway Network, the International Ornithological Congress, and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research will underpin evidence-based responses to invasive species, infrastructure development pressures exemplified by proposals affecting the Istanbul Strait, and emerging zoonotic disease interfaces studied with the World Health Organization.

Category:International conservation organizations