Bonn Convention - The Agreement on the Conservation of
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
Many waterbird species migrate huge distances throughout their
annual cycles. They require good habitat for breeding as well as
networks of suitable sites to support them along their migration
routes. On a global scale, there are several major flyway
systems linking arctic and north temperate breeding areas with
more southerly wintering or non-breeding areas. In the Western
Palearctic, waterbirds migrate south from as far west as the
eastern Canadian arctic and Greenland, and from central Siberia in
the east. These birds move south in autumn, through Europe, the
Mediterranean and the Middle East to spend the non-breeding season
in Africa. Other
flyways link North America with South America, and central and
eastern Siberia with South Asia, South-east Asia and Australasia.
In all these regions, efforts are being made to coordinate the
conservation of migratory waterbirds and their wetland habitats at
international scales. In the Africa-Eurasia region, an
intergovernmental treaty assists in this process.
The Agreement on the
Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
(AEWA) was concluded in The Hague, the Netherlands
in 1995 and entered into force in November 1999. The AEWA covers
255 species of birds ecologically dependent on wetlands for at
least part of their annual cycle, with a geographic area
encompassing 118 countries from Europe, parts of Asia and Canada,
the Middle East and Africa. As of November 2008 there were 62
countries and the European Union that have become Contracting
Parties to the Agreement.
The Agreement provides for coordinated and concerted actions to
be taken by the Range States throughout the migration systems of
the waterbirds to which it applies. Parties to the Agreement are
called upon to engage in a wide range of conservation actions which
are described in a comprehensive Action Plan. This detailed plan
addresses such key issues as species and habitat conservation,
management of human activities, research and monitoring, education
and information, and implementation. One of the fundamental
activities undertaken is a regular review of the status of each
migratory waterbird population within the Agreement area.
The UK ratified AEWA in 1999. A
UK Implementation Plan has been published, highlighting
existing and proposed UK activity that will contribute to the aims
of the Agreement. The UK's legal obligations for the protection of
endangered migratory waterbird species are implemented by means of
the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as
amended), the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (as
amended), and the
Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (as amended). There
is also provision for the protection of sites important for
waterbird species (including Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
classified under the EC
Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and UK wetlands
designated under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands). The legal status
of these internationally important sites is strengthened by the
Conservation
(Natural Habitats & c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended), the
Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats & c.)
Regulations 2007 (as amended) and the Conservation
(Natural Habitats & c.) Regulations (Northern Ireland)
1995 (as amended).
Other activities which support the Agreement's implementation
include national bird monitoring schemes (such as the
Wetland Bird Survey, the
Breeding Bird Survey and
Rare Breeding Birds Panel), waterbird
research, management of human activities such as hunting, and
implementation of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP), which
involves action for a number of waterbird species and the habitats
which support them. Significant restoration is envisaged through
the UKBAP process for a number of the wetland habitats on which
waterbirds depend. The UK also participates in a number of
international species conservation initiatives, including flyway
management plans and
European Union Species Action Plans.
JNCC advises Government on the implementation of AEWA both
within the UK and internationally and attends AEWA meetings in a
technical support and advisory role. JNCC drafted the
UK's AEWA Implementation Plan and promotes the uptake of the
desirable actions there identified. To this end, it manages a range
of relevant research and surveys together with a number of other
organisations. In particular, it is a partner in the UK's main
waterbird monitoring scheme, the Wetland Bird Survey (together with
the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, the British Trust for
Ornithology and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). It
has recently published a comprehensive assessment of the extent to
which each UK waterbird population is protected by the UK's
national
network of SPAs.
JNCC works with a range of counterpart national bodies in other
parts of the Agreement area on a variety of issues related to the
conservation of migratory waterbirds.
April 2010
