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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 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 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.

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 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

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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!