New publication: State of the World’s Waterbirds: Mass declines in Asia, recovery in North America and Europe

A new publication of Wetlands International illustrates that waterbirds are not doing well. Of all populations, 44% are declining. Species in Asia are in serious trouble due to the rapid loss of wetland areas driven by economic developments, and very many populations in Africa and South America are also declining. There is also good news: in regions with strong conservation legislation (North America, Europe and Oceania), many populations are recovering. This colourful publication is based on survey work coordinated in over 100 countries and at continental scales under the International Waterbird Census. The majority of the 900 waterbird species of our planet have been investigated. These investigations have been combined with other scientific sources to provide the basis for the Waterbird Population Estimates (WPE) series of publications. A new analysis has tracked changes of population estimates for waterbird species over the four editions of the WPE to produce a global picture on status and trends. The book will be launched at the Side Event on the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership on 21 October 2010 at the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Nagoya, Japan.

It is also downloadable from here.

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