WOW Exchange Programme Workshop

Meeting of WOW Demonstration Projects and Regional Centre Teams from Kenya, Tanzania,

South Africa and Nigeria

4-7 November, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Flyway-level Conservation of

Migratory Waterbirds in Africa and Eurasia

BIRDS MIGRATION

A MIRACLE OF NATURE

African Eurasian Flyways

Cover

Countries

118

over 3,000,000 migratory waterbirds

300 species

The African Eurasian

Waterbirds Agreement

UNEP-AEWA(1995)

unique ecological requirements

increasingly scarce habitats

congregatory behaviour

vulnerability

forming aNETWORK ofcritical sites

essential for migratory waterbirds

Sites holding >1% of the population of individual wader sp.

over 100,000 important wetlands (and other habitats)

RamsarConvention

(1975)

flyway conservationflyway conservation• shared resource = shared responsibility for their

conservation and sustainable useimproving cooperation among all countries along the flyways

• developing a stronger science baseimproving our understanding of waterbirds migrationproviding better support to decision-making for their conservation

• avoiding antagonistic interventions along the flyways

• harmonising policies and optimising actions on the ground

• sharing resources for the benefit of all partners along the african-eurasian flyways (and beyond):– enhancing professional capacity– mobilising financial resources– training, education and awareness tools

Budget Breakdown

$6,000,000

$1,114,405

$1,365,460

$3,715,364

Global EnvironmentFacility Trust Fund

German Government

UNEP/AEWASecretariat

Other

JOINT EFFORT WOW is the largest

waterbirds and wetlandsconservation initiative

ever to take place in the African-Eurasian Region

THE TEAMMore than 100 project staff involved in over 20 countries (plus a network of hundreds of other staff and volunteers)

Project Coordination Unit Based in:

Wageningen,

The Netherlands

what are we doing?what are we doing?• regional-level activities

1. science base for decision-making2. capacity building & training3. communication and networking

• activities in the field– demonstration projects in 12

countries– four regional centres

The critical sites network tool

(component 1)

Improving our understanding of the Critical Network of Sites required by Migratory Waterbirds

A multi-national technical team at work

integrating & linking several databases

Into one portal: THE CRITICAL SITE NETWORK TOOL

Capacity Development

(component 2)

developing training programmes & materials

to support flyway-level conservation

Capacity DevelopmentCapacity Development

Regional Training Boards

WOW Flyway Training WOW Flyway Training ModulesModules

Each module contains:• Illustrated Textbooks and Session

Plans• Powerpoint Presentations• Exercise manuals• Case studies

1. Understanding the flyway approach

2. Applying the flyway approach3. Communicating the flyway

approach

textbooks and manualstextbooks and manuals

powerpointspowerpoints

Demonstration Projects

(component 3)

Activities in the fieldProjects in 12 coutries along the flyway

Demonstrating Best Practice in Wetlands Management and Waterbirds Conservation

Demonstration Projects

Regional Hubs

Project Coordination Unit

Ecotourism

Wetland Restoration

Trans-boundary Management

Management Planning Community

Mobilization

Alternative Livelihoods

Education and Awareness

Control of invasive species

WOW

Regional Centres

www.wingsoverwetlands.org

Thank youThank you

www.www.wingswingsoveroverwetlandswetlands.or.orgg

Organising our thinking about migration:Waders as an example of waterbird flyways