Many waterbird species migrate huge distances throughout their
annual cycles. They require good habitat for reproduction as well
as networks of suitable sites to support them along their migration
routes. On a global scale, there are several major flyway systems
linking arctic and north temperate breeding areas with more
southerly wintering or non-breeding areas. In the Western
Palearctic, waterbirds migrate south from as far west as the
eastern Canadian arctic and Greenland, and from central Siberia in
the east. These birds move south in autumn, through Europe, the
Mediterranean and the Middle East to spend the non-breeding season
in Africa. Other flyways link North America with South America, and
central and eastern Siberia with South Asia, South-east Asia and
Australasia. In all these regions, efforts are being made to
co-ordinate the conservation of migratory waterbirds and their
wetland habitats at international scales. In the Africa-Eurasia
region, an intergovernmental treaty has recently been concluded to
assist in this process.
The Agreement on the
Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
(
AEWA) was concluded in The Hague, the Netherlands
in 1995 and entered into force in November 1999. The AEWA covers
235 species of birds ecologically dependent on wetlands for at
least part of their annual cycle, with a geographic area
encompassing 117 countries from Europe, parts of Asia and Canada,
the Middle East and Africa. The Agreement provides for coordinated
and concerted actions to be taken by the Range States throughout
the migration systems of the waterbirds to which it applies.
Parties to the Agreement are called upon to engage in a wide range
of conservation actions which are described in a comprehensive
Action Plan. This detailed plan addresses such key issues as
species and habitat conservation, management of human activities,
research and monitoring, education and information, and
implementation. One of the fundamental activities undertaken is a
regular review of the status of each migratory waterbird population
within the Agreement area. As of June 2003 there were 41
Contracting Parties to the Agreement.
The UK ratified AEWA in 1999. A UK Implementation Plan has
been published, highlighting existing and proposed UK activity that
will contribute to the aims of the Agreement. The UK's legal
obligations for the protection of endangered migratory waterbird
species are implemented through the Wildlife and Countryside Act
(WCA) 1981 (as amended) and the
Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. In England and Wales,
the provisions of the WCA have recently been strengthened through
the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000). Along with the
Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order
1985, this framework also provides for the protection of sites
important for waterbird species (including Special Protection Areas
classified under the EC Directive on the Conservation of Wild
Birds, and UK wetlands designated under the Ramsar Convention on
Wetlands). The legal status of these internationally important
sites is strengthened by the
Conservation
(Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994, and the
Conservation
(Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995.
Other activities which support the Agreement's implementation
include national bird monitoring schemes (such as the Breeding Bird
Survey and Rare Breeding Birds Panel), waterbird research,
management of human activities such as hunting, and implementation
of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan , which involves action for a
number of waterbird species and the habitats which support them.
Significant restoration is envisaged through the BAP process for a
number of the wetland habitats on which waterbirds depend. The UK
also participates in a number of international species conservation
initiatives, including flyway management plans and
European Union species Action Plans.
JNCC advises government on the implementation of AEWA both
within the UK and internationally and often attends AEWA meetings
in a technical support role to the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (Defra). JNCC drafted the
UK's AEWA Implementation Plan (PDF 710KB) and promotes the
uptake of the desirable actions there identified. To this end, it
manages a range of relevant research and surveys together with a
number of other organisations. In particular, it is a partner in
the UK's main waterbird monitoring scheme, the Wetland Bird Survey
(together with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, the British Trust
for Ornithology and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds).
It has recently published a comprehensive assessment of the extent
to which each UK waterbird population is protected by the UK's
national network of Special Protection Areas. JNCC works with a
range of counterpart national bodies in other parts of the
Agreement area on a variety of issues related to the conservation
of migratory waterbirds.