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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 39 Partners including 18 countries, 6 intergovernmental agencies, 13 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), 1 international organization 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.

Our Purpose

The purpose of this Partnership is to provide a flyway-wide framework to promote dialogue, cooperation and collaboration between a range of stakeholders, including all levels of governments, site managers, multilateral environmental agreements, technical institutions, UN agencies, development agencies, industrial and private sector, academe, non-governmental organisations, community groups and local people to conserve migratory waterbirds and their habitats, considering both people and biodiversity of the of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway.

EAAFP Objectives

Develop the Flyway Site Network of international importance for the conservation of migratory waterbirds.
Enhance communication, education and public awareness of the values of migratory waterbirds and their habitats.
Enhance flyway research and monitoring activities, build knowledge and promote exchange of information on waterbirds and their habitats.
Build the habitat and waterbird management capacity of natural resource managers, decision makers and local stakeholders.
Develop, especially for priority species and habitats, flyway wide approaches to enhance the conservation status of migratory waterbirds.

The East Asian - 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

Australia and BirdLife Australia to host 11th Meeting of Partners for the EAAFP in 2021

The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) is pleased to announce that it has officially accepted Australia’s offer to co-host, with BirdLife Australia, the Flyway Partnership’s 11th Meeting of Partners in Brisbane, Australia from 14 to 19 March 2021.

The Meeting of Partners brings together all 37 EAAFP Partners every two years to discuss important issues affecting the Partnership, migratory waterbirds, and their habitats.

With the EAAFP being made up of Partners including 18 national governments, 6 inter‑governmental organizations, 12 international non-governmental organizations and 1 international private enterprise, the Meeting of Partners is an important forum to agree and make decisions on the conservation of migratory waterbirds across the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.It is also an opportunity for Partners, site managers, Working Groups and Task Forces to share experiences, coordinate and plan future actions for conserving migratory waterbirds, particularly those identified as threatened, and their habitats along the EAAF.

MOP11 Page

2020 #legflagChallenge Photo Contest

The #LegflagChallenge Photo Contest aims to encourage birdwatchers, bird photographers and all kinds of citizen scientists to document and report sightings of waterbirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway that carry leg flags, tags and other types of attachments. Birds carrying these leg flags and tags provide crucial information about their life histories for professional conservationists and researchers. The information drawn from these observations, in turn, are particularly valuable in helping conservationists develop plans and actions to conserve migratory birds.

Your sightings contribute to conservation!

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Latest News

A hitherto undescribed population of Black-tailed Godwits in the EAAF
Posted on November 30, 2020
Occurring across Eurasia, the black-tailed godwit has three recognized subspecies, from east to west melanuroides, limosa, and islandica, respectively. With the smallest body size, melanuroides has been considered the only subspecies in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Yet, observations along the Chinese coast indicated the presence of distinctively large individuals. The latest research on a population […]

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Connecting the Flyway Youth Leaders for Tomorrow
Posted on November 27, 2020
The first Flyway Youth Forum Pre-event press release The first-ever Flyway Youth Forum, organized by The East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) and Youth Engaged in Wetlands (YEW), sponsored by Hanns Seidel Foundation, will be held virtually over two consecutive weekends from 28th November to 6th December, 2020, to connect, empower and provide a […]

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On 10th and 11th May, 2019, EAAFP celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Government of Republic of Korea hosting the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership Secretariat in Songdo, Incheon. Together with the 10th anniversary event, over 200 participants from our Partners, the diplomatic communities, Korean government agencies and local organizations attended the conference on migratory birds and their habitats along our flyway. The event also celebrated the World Migratory Bird Day highlighting the theme "Protect the birds : Be the solution from plastic pollution."

‘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!