The East Asian - Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP)
Adopted in the list of the World Summit on Sustainable Development as a Type II initiative which is informal and voluntary, the Partnership was launched on 6 November 2006 and aims to protect migratory waterbirds, their habitat and the livelihoods of people dependent upon them. There are currently 37 Partners including 18 countries, 6 intergovernmental agencies, 12 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and 1 international private enterprise.
Membership is open to governments, international NGOs, inter-governmental organisations and members of the international business sector upon application and agreeing to endorse the text and support the objectives and actions under this Partnership.
The East Asia - Australasian Flyway (EAAF)
The routes that migratory waterbirds traverse on an annual basis are known as 'flyways'. There are nine major flyway around the world. The East Asian - Australasian Flyway (EAAF) stretches from the Russian Far East and Alaska, southwards through East Asia and South-east Asia, to Australia and New Zealand and encompasses 22 countries. The EAAF is home to over 50 million migratory waterbirds from over 250 different populations, including 32 globally threatened species and 19 Near Threatened species. During migration, waterbirds rely on a system of highly productive wetlands to rest and feed, building up sufficient energy to fuel the next phase of their journey. International cooperation across their migratory range is therefore essential to conserve and protect migratory waterbirds and the habitats on which they depend.
Nine major migratory flyways of waterbirds
Year of the Knots
Red Knots and Great Knots are small, stocky wading birds. They use large, muddy estuaries around the coast for feeding. The population of both species has been declining at a rate of 2-2.5 % per year in recent decades, primarily as a result of habitat loss at the stopover sites.
The “Year of the Knots” calls attention for urgent conservation actions to save these birds.
To Our Winged Travellers
‘To Our Winged Travellers‘ is an interactive art project to celebrate the annual migration of migratory waterbirds. Since last May, over 1000 people participated in the project via online and at the local bird events in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). The project started in the Republic of Korea and messages were delivered to other countries in the EAAF, such as Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Please help us keep the greetings coming and ‘flying’ out to their next destination!
National Governments (18)
Australia (2006)
Indonesia (2006)
Japan (2006)
Philippines (2006)
Republic of Korea (2006)
Russia (2006)
Singapore (2006)
USA (2006)
Cambodia (2007)
China (2008)
Bangladesh (2010)
Thailand (2010)
Mongolia (2010)
New Zealand (2011)
Malaysia (2012)
Myanmar (2014)
Vietnam (2014)
DPRK (2018)
Inter-Governmental Organisations (6)
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (2006)
Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) (2006)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2009)
Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (2013)
Convention on Biological Diversity (2014)
ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (2014)
International Non-Governmental Organisations (11)
Australasian Wader Studies Group - BirdLife Australia (2006)
International Crane Foundation (2006)
Wetlands International (2006)
World Wildlife Fund (2006)
International Union for Conservation of Nature (2006)
BirdLife International (2006)
Wild Bird Societ of Japan (2007)
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (2010)
Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists Trust (2010)
Wildlife Conservation Society (2013)
Hanns Seidel Foundation (2016)
Paulson Institute (2018)
International Private Enterprise
Rio Tinto