• International Workshop on Geese Conservation and Management in East Asia

    Group photo © Katsumi Ushiyama/Japanese Committee of the Anatidae Working Group On 27 – 29th January, 2023, the Japanese Committee of Science and Technology of the Anatidae Working Group hosted the “International Workshop on Geese Conservation and Management in East Asia” with the support of The Miyagi Prefectural Izunuma-Uchinuma Environmental Foundation. The three-day workshop included experts’ meeting, an open symposium and an excursion. Dr. David Ward of USGS Alaska, Dr. Hansoo Lee of KoEco, Dr. Cao Lei of Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, were invited as international experts. The experts’ meeting started with an information-sharing session on the situation of geese conservation and management of each country, particularly on responsible organizations, protective status, population trends, monitoring and research. Nextly, Yusuke Sawa of Yamashina Institute of Ornithology reported the progress of the Brent geese action plan and recent tracking studies performed in Japan. The meeting was concluded with a fruitful discussion on finding research gaps, management framework and future actions for advancing geese conservation and management in East Asia. The symposium, live streamed and archived in YouTube , started with a plenary lecture from Dr. David Ward titled “Population Trends and Conservation of Geese in the Eastern Pacific Flyway” with recommendations for evidence-based conservation and management in the East Asian region. In the following session on “Geese of Japan”, Mr. Masayuki Kurechi of Japanese Association for Wild Geese Protection reported the achievements on the recovering cackling geese and snow geese, Dr. Tetsuo Shimada of The Miyagi Prefectural Izunuma-Uchinuma Environmental Foundation reported the issues concerning the abundant greater white-fronted goose, and Mr. Yusuke Sawa reported the recent progress of the geese tracking project in Japan. The next session was on “Geese in East Asia”, where Dr. Hansoo Lee introduced the outcomes of the nationwide water bird census and international cooperative research works for tracking migratory geese. Dr. Cao Lei introduced the status of 5 geese species in China, emphasizing the need to protect the Yangtze lakes, especially Poyang and Dongting Lake and their hydrological progress. © Katsumi Ushiyama/Japanese Committee of the Anatidae Working Group   The symposium closed with a panel discussion building up on the conversation in the experts’ meeting. One of the main conclusion was to make a comprehensive international plan which can share goals, roles and principles for geese conservation and management in the East Asian region, as in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The major gaps to fill in for effective management were: 1) coordinated monitoring and analysis of population parameters, such as the survival rate based on banding survey and reproductive rate based on juvenile ratio monitoring 2) data sharing on tracking studies; 3) natural habitat conservation for declining specialist species, and 4) agricultural habitat management for increasing generalist species. To establish methods for evidence-based management of East Asian geese populations, the greater white-fronted goose was chosen as a model species for population modeling. The final day of the workshop was a field trip to three Ramsar sites, Izunuma, Kabukurinuma, Shizugawa-wan. The three-day workshop was funded by the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund, Japan Fund for Global Environment, and Tsudo Fund of the Ornithological Society of Japan. Morning flight of geese in Izunuma © Katsumi Ushiyama/Japanese Committee of the Anatidae Working Group Rewatch the Symposium on Youtube: Prepared by Katsumi Ushiyama, Coordinator of Anatidae Working Group


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  • Celebration of World Migratory Bird Day 2022 in Australia: Stories of Home

    In the 2022 WMBD October event, Australian Artist Kate Gorringe-Smith organised an interactive exhibition “Stories of Home” at the Joel Gallery, Louis Joel Arts and Community Centre. In the…


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  • Announcement of EAAFP Partners Workshop leading up to MOP 11

    In preparation of and to increase dialogue with and between Partners in the months leading up to MOP11, which will be held in Brisbane Australia, from 12th – 17th March 2023, the Secretariat is organizing a series of webinars endorsed by the EAAFP Management Committee with the following schedule and program. The webinar series will give Partners the opportunity to be briefed on important ongoing activities of the Secretariat and follow-up on Decisions made at MOP10. The EAAFP Secretariat is inviting all Partners to mark these dates and participate in the webinars. Title: EAAFP Partners Workshop lead up to MOP 11 Date/Time: 1 – 5 August 2022; 15:00 – 17:30 KST Organizers: EAAFP Secretariat and Management Committee Participants: EAAFP Partners, EAAFP Working Groups and Task Forces, Flyway Network Site Managers Language: English Meeting Platform: Zoom Register: https://cutt.ly/dJJgCmV *We invite everyone to join as many sessions as possible EAAFP Provisional Programme Day Programme Presenter/Moderator Day 1 Opening Remarks Robb Kaler, MC Chair Briefing on MOP11 Doug Watkins, Secretariat Chief Executive/Nick Davidson, TsC Chair Activities of the Management Committee Robb Kaler, MC Chair Report on the Secretariat’s workplan and budget Doug Watkins, Secretariat Chief Executive Day 2 Presentation on the Partner New Reporting Template for MOP11 Doug Watkins, Secretariat Chief Executive Interactive Session 1: How to increase the effectiveness of Working Group/Task Forces for EAAFP, following up on the Discussion Paper presented at MoP10 (link). (TBC) Day 3 MOP10 DD08: EAAFP Guidelines for National and Site Partnerships (link) Jennifer George, Consultant MOP10 DD 09: EAAFP Guidelines for the Sister Site Program (link) Day 4 Presentation on the revised CEPA Action Plan 2023 – 2028 Casey Burns, CEPA Working Group Chair Update on the ADB Regional Flyway Initiative Duncan Lang, Asian Development Bank /Doug Watkins, Secretariat Chief Executive /Ding Li, BirdLife International Day 5 Conservation Status Review of Migratory Waterbird Populations for the EAAFP [MOP10 DD 12] / Q&A Taej Mundkur, Consultant to Wetlands International Interactive Session 2: How to expand, strengthen and engage the Flyway Site Network, including adopting a more simplified and focused nomination form (SIS)  Nick Davidson, TsC Chair/Qing Zeng, Science Officer Closing Remarks Robb Kaler, MC Chair For inquiries, please email to secretariat@eaaflyway.net.


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  • Youth Think Tank Competition for EAA Flyway – 2nd Training workshop

    On 28th - 29th May, the Youth Think Tank Competition in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) engaged youth participants with a webinar and in-depth training workshop on Engaging Local Communities in Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds and Wetlands. One in a series of workshops that aims to build capacity for young conservationists on wetland and migratory waterbirds conservation in the flyway across various disciplines, the 2-day virtual workshop was organized by the EAAF Partnership Secretariat with the help of the youth organizing team. More than 100 youth actively participated in the discussions and workshops.   Day 1 The workshop opened on 28th May 2022 with a webinar, “Understanding Nature-based Solutions and Local Community Engagement in Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds and Wetlands.” The 1-hour webinar focused on presentations from speakers, Ms. Kathryn Bimson, Programme Officer for IUCN Regional Asia Office, and Mr. Jiefeng Jin, Conservation Officer for the International Crane Foundation. The first presentation, given by Ms. Kathryn Bimson, was an introductory presentation on Nature-based solutions and was followed by an introductory presentation on Engaging local community in conservation by Mr. Jiefeng Jin. Both presentations helped participants ease their way into the topic and the in-depth training workshop, “Engaging Local Communities in Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds and Wetlands” that came afterwards. [PPT Materials] Introduction to Nature-based Solutions (link) / Introduction to Engaging Local Community in Conservation (link) The in-depth workshop was led by Ms. Mercy Kariuki, Programme Officer (Local Engagement and Empowerment Programme) from BirdLife International and focused on “Engaging Local Communities in Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds and Wetlands”. She emphasized the significance of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in the process of conservation and how the work is increasingly adopting a human rights-based approach. To delve further into the topic, the presentation was followed by a case study by Mr. George Ndung’u Muigai, Founder of the Cranes Conservation Volunteers, on the conservation of Cranes in Kenya. During his presentation, Mr. Muigai shared on-the-ground experiences engaging with the community and exchanged practical advice with the youth participants. [PPT Materials] Engaging Local Communities in Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds and Wetlands (link) / Conservation of Cranes in Kenya (link) The breakout session, participants discussed the positive and negative relations between conservation and people, so that they could learn to think in different perspectives – from local communities to conservation. The participants shared actual experiences from their respective regions and project implementations.   Day 2 The in-depth workshop continued on 29th May with a short summary presentation from Ms. Mercy Kariuki before delving into a case study from Amy M. Lecciones, Executive Director of the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands, Inc who tackled Empowering Communities for Managing Agricultural Wetlands. In her presentation, Amy shared the case in Paligui Wetlands (a part of the greater key biodiversity area of Candaba Wetlands) of how local farmers were trained to be local eco-tour guides. Amy enumerated some key activities for community engagement and social challenges with the proposed conservation measures taken in Paligui. (PPT Materials) Following next was a case on Hong Kong Fishpond Conservation Scheme presented by Mr. Johnson Chung of The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. Mr. Johnson shared how local fishermen helped to enhance the biodiversity of fishponds within the Ramsar Site and being an important player in the conservation project. Johnson shared different ways to motivate the local communities as well as the general public to support the management agreements. The outputs were beyond conserving migratory birds but also benefitted local fishermen while maintaining traditions and cultures in Hong Kong. (PPT Materials) The last case study was presented by Professor Wataru Kitamura of Tokyo City University on the Little Tern project. He shared how the once-disappeared population of Little Tern was brought back to the urban areas in Tokyo Bay area. The project demonstrated the success and need for a strong scientific base, and how it can be developed into a good citizen science programme to engage the locals and general public garner their support. It was also an innovative solution to create habitats for the birds with the use of the rooftops of building in the middle of the city. (PPT Materials) After that, the participants broke out into groups to practice stakeholder analysis of the different case studies that were presented. Youth participants shared their perspectives on identifying stakeholders and ideas on engaging them with participatory conservation objectives.   [Webinar] Understanding Nature-based Solution and Local Community Engagement in Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds and Wetlands [In depth Workshop] Engaging Local Communities in Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds and Wetlands: Session 1 [In depth Workshop] Engaging Local Communities in Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds and Wetlands: Session 2 Evaluation:  All 20 participants had an increase in learning for the topic of nature-based solutions. In the pre-workshop survey, half of the participants responded that they had some familiarity with the topic. In the post-workshop survey, however, 90% responded they were now familiar or ‘ready to go pro’ with nature-based solutions. All participants were satisfied and found what they learned during the workshop useful in their volunteer/work. Participants rated these three components with the highest scores: 1) trainers and speakers of the workshop (4.5/5); 2) case study presentations (4.5/5); 3) contents of the workshop (4.5/5). The most valuable learnings/ takeaways for the participants were: 1) Free, Prior and Informed Consent, 2) Stakeholder mapping and analysis and 3) Nature-based Solutions. Takeaways: Participants wrote that most valuable learnings/ takeaways for the workshop was: 1) Free, Prior and Informed Consent, 2) Stakeholder mapping and analysis and 3) Nature-based Solutions.  In the words of the Flyway youth: “What really stayed in my head and in my notes also is the quote "Recognizing diversity and engaging stakeholders helps in building legitimacy, developing innovative solutions, enhancing transparency, and most importantly, in upholding social equity." “It is evident that we are currently experiencing biodiversity loss. Hence, it is a must to take action. However, there are various factors that we need to consider first. For example, the effects of the conservation programs that we want to implement on the local communities and vice versa. As conservationists, we should understand the social contexts. A way for us to plan everything is to create a stakeholder analysis. It is a process for us to be able to map and identify the target people before the project begins.   Acknowledgment The Youth Think Tank Competition for the EAA Flyway Organizing Team acknowledges the great contribution from the speakers and trainers: Mercy Kariuki, George Ndung’u Muigai, Amy M. Lecciones, Johnson Chung, and Wataru Kitamura, as well the youth organizing team: Frances Alvares, Jord Earving Gadingan, Oscar Yu, Thura Soe Min Htike, Yeonju Park, Yuji Lim and Yoomi Sim. The webinar was moderated by Ms. Yoon Kyung Lee, External Relations Manager of the EAAFP Secretariat. The in-depth workshops were co-moderated by Ms. Yuji Lim, Ms. Yeonju Park, Ms. Yoomi Sim from the EAAFP Secretariat and Mr. Thura Soe Min Htike from Myanmar. Ms. Vivian Fu, Communication Officer of the EAAFP Secretariat led the coordination of the workshop. To learn more about the speakers and trainers click here. For more on the Youth Think Tank Competition click here.


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  • A Path to Soft-landing Korean Unification: A Problem-Solving Workshop at GMU

    On 4 November 2020, members of the EAAFP Secretariat participated in a workshop held at George Mason University Songdo Global Campus on approaches to international cooperation and sustainable development,…


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  • Workshop Promotes Wetland Management for the China Crane Flyways

    Jim Harris, Senior Vice President of the International Crane Foundation Siberian Cranes and many other waterbirds of…


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  • World Heritage status for migratory waterbirds and their habitats?

    Spike Millington, Chief Executive, EAAFP Secretariat


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  • HSF at the Workshop for World Heritage Nomination – The Wadden Sea and Korean Tidal Flats

    Read in Korean: 20 October 2016 Felix Glenk, Hanns Seidel Foundation


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  • How to build a site managers network?

    Spike Millington, Chief Executive, EAAFP Secretariat I wrote the last introduction of the Newsletter from the World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, and I write this one…


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