Global Waterbird Flyways Workshop
to promote exchange of good practice and lessons learnt 17-20 October 2011, Seosan City, Republic of Korea
Workshop concept
There are an increasing number of flyway initiatives for migratory bird conservation taking place around the globe, with varied approaches, and with considerable and valuable experience to share. However the experience of these initiatives, while often well publicised within their own flyway is often poorly known elsewhere. This has led to independent evolution of approaches in different flyways and relatively little ‘inter-flyway’ exchange of experience. While many of the challenges faced are similar, different approaches have been taken to tackle them. Much can be gained through the sharing of lessons learned from these different approaches, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and by taking a more global view of our flyway conservation efforts thus far.
Representatives of the Global Waterbird Flyway Workshop, Seosan, Republic of Korea © 2011 Partnership for EAAF Press image for enlargement.
In the middle of discussion © 2011 Partnership for EAAF Press image for enlargement.
Date:
17-20 October 2011
Duration:
3-days exclusive of travel dates
Venue:
Hanseo University, Seosan City, Republic of Korea
Organisers:
BirdLife International, Convention on Migratory Species – Secretariat, Partnership for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands – Secretariat, Wetlands International
Supporters:
Seosan City, Republic of Korea, the government of Switzerland and the Secretariat of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership
List of participant organisations/initiatives (The pdf is under development.)
Programs & Presentations
Photos (The link is under development.)
Global Flyway Initiatives workshop in Korea establishes a “Global Interflyway Network” (GIN)
A brief report from Prof Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 28 October 2011
With the generous support of Seosan City, Republic of Korea, the government of Switzerland and the Secretariat of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), an international workshop to review good practice in international initiatives for the conservation of migratory waterbirds and other migratory bird taxa was convened by the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) Secretariats, BirdLife International, Wetlands International and the EAAFP Secretariat. The workshop, held from 17-20 October 2011 and attended by 35 representatives and observers from 14 international organisations and seven Korean organisations, was hosted by Seosan City at Hanseo University.
An increasing number of flyway-scale initiatives for migratory bird conservation and wise use have been established around the globe, with varied approaches and status, and with considerable and valuable experiences to share. However, the experiences of these initiatives, while often well publicised within their own flyway, is often poorly known elsewhere. This has led to independent evolution of approaches in different flyways and relatively little exchange of experience between flyways, or between flyway initiatives for different groups of birds e.g. waterbirds, landbirds, soaring birds and seabirds. While many of the challenges faced are similar, different approaches have been taken to tackle them.
This workshop was the first to bring together practitioners from all these flyway initiatives so as to share lessons learned from these different approaches, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and so provide a more global view of our flyway conservation efforts thus far. This first workshop focussed largely on waterbirds, the taxa for which the flyway approach is most widely developed, but also included representatives from raptor, landbird and seabird flyway initiatives.
Flyway-relevant initiatives examined during the Workshop were:
A. Statutory intergovernmental initiatives
The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and its Memoranda of Understanding
The African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA)
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
B. Public/Private Sector Partnerships
East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership
C. Voluntary Initiatives
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) (Americas)
Partners in Flight (North America landbirds)
Siberian Crane flyway initiatives (Asia)
Raptor flyway initiatives
BirdLife International’s Global Seabird Programme
Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) partnership (Africa-Eurasia)
The workshop began with an open session which outlined how each of the flyway initiatives operates, and described some of the main pressures being faced worldwide by migratory birds, and opportunities for enhancing their conservation status. Workshop presentations and discussions were then organised under a) the objectives, operations and experiences of a range of statutory and voluntary flyway initiatives, and then b) examining seven common and cross-cutting themes:
1. National engagement and implementation
2. Species conservation
3. Site/habitat conservation
4. Role of science
5. Innovative approaches
6. Developing capacity
7. Partnerships and stakeholder involvement
The workshop participants were unanimous in their recognition of the value of knowledge and information sharing across flyway initiatives, and agreed to establish an open and inclusive network of flyway-scale initiatives, so as to facilitate future networking, collaboration and information-sharing between initiatives and their personnel, entitled the “Global Interflyway Network” (GIN).
A summary report of the workshop’s conclusions and recommendations is being prepared for consideration by CMS Scientific Council in November 2011, and a full workshop report is in preparation for publication as a joint Ramsar/CMS/AEWA Technical Report.