more international action needed to save migratory waterbirds

[eppur_se_muova]

New publication stresses need for more international action to save migratory waterbirds – highlights major role for UNEP/CMS and UNEP/AEWA

Waterbirds around the world – released today, is a new groundbreaking publication on the plight of the world’s waterbirds, which shows that more action needs to be taken by all countries to conserve these animals.

The Hague/Bonn, 12 March 2007 – A major assessment on the status of the world’s waterbirds was welcomed today by the heads of the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species and the UNEP African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement at its launch by the Dutch and UK Environment Ministers in The Hague, Netherlands.

Waterbirds around the world, gives an insight into the current state of knowledge on waterbirds, their migration routes and ongoing international efforts to conserve them. It includes a large number of conservation studies from around the world, which address the wide range of factors that currently threaten waterbird populations: loss and degradation of wetland habitats; climate change; disease; and unsustainable use including impacts of disturbance.

“This book represents the state-of-the-art of our collective knowledge on waterbirds and their flyways. However, during the course of our day to day work on Avian Influenza it became clear that even our current knowledge reflects only the tip of an iceberg: we need to gain far more detailed knowledge of the migration routes of these species. This knowledge will also be of extreme importance for us to put into place the right mitigation measures to help reduce the negative impact climate change will have on the world’s waterbirds” says Bert Lenten, the Executive Secretary of AEWA – the international treaty dedicated to the conservation of migratory waterbirds in Africa and Eurasia.
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more: http://www.unep-aewa.org/news/news_elements/2007/waterbirds_around_the_world.htm









more pix: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/sci_nat_the_world0s_water_birds/html/1.stm