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 36 Partners including 18 countries, 6 intergovernmental agencies, 11 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.

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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

  1. Develop the Flyway Site Network of international importance for the conservation of migratory waterbirds.

  2. Enhance communication, education and public awareness of the values of migratory waterbirds and their habitats.

  3. Enhance flyway research and monitoring activities, build knowledge and promote exchange of information on waterbirds and their habitats.

  4. Build the habitat and waterbird management capacity of natural resource managers, decision makers and local stakeholders.

  5. Develop, especially for priority species and habitats, flyway wide approaches to enhance the conservation status of migratory waterbirds.

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

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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.

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Some Key Species

For more information on these and other important waterbirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway visit our Migratory Waterbirds pages to learn about the various amazing species moving across our flyway every year.

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!

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EAAFP Partners