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Global activities on the conservation, management and sustainable use of migratory waterbirds: an integrated /ecosystem approach

GERARD C. BOERE

WetlandsInternational, PO Box 471, 6700 AI Wageningen, The Netherlands,e-marl: Gerard.Boere @.org

Boere, G.C. 2003. Global activities on the conservation,management and sustainableuse of migratory waterbirds:an integratedflyway/ecosystem approach. Wader Study Group Bull. 100: 96-101.

Though conservationand scientificorganisations as well as individualscan achievemuch for the conserva- tion of wetlandbirds, it is governmentsthat have the power to make a real differenceif only they have the will andthe motivation.Here I summarisethe mainconventions, treaties and other intergovernmental arrange- mentsthat arerelevant to waterbirdconservation and reflect on the waysin whichthey can be developedand made more effective.

INTRODUCTION THE OF POLICY

For most readersof the Wader Study Group Bulletin the Many conservationmovements in westernEurope, such world of internationalbureaucracy, of treaties,conventions, as Vogelbeschermingin The Netherlandsand the Royal strategiesand the like probablyseems very boring. It is a Societyfor the Protectionof in the United Kingdom, world of "conferencetigers", polluting the environmentby developedin the late 19thand early 20th century.These are endlesstravelling and producingtons of paperthat mostly amongthe oldest nature conservationorganisations in the goes straight into the waste bin. Ever looked behind the world. With the advent of suchnon-governmental organ- scenesat the closeof a Conventionmeeting? Don't do it! isations(NGOs), bird conservationmoved up the political But, is it really that bad? agendasof many governments.The early 20th centurysaw I say "No!" the developmentof bird conservationpolicies and regula- Onceyou know your way aroundthe complexitiesof all tionssuch as the Conventionfor the Protectionof Birds Use- thoselegal mechanismsand how to operatein that environ- ful to Agriculture (Paris, 1902) and its successortreaty, the ment, onceyou know how to make maximumuse of all that International Conventionfor the Protectionof Birds (Paris, paper,there is tremendousscope to achievegreat things for 1950). While both are technicallystill in force, they have nature conservation.This meanshitting governmentswith now been superseded. the obligationsof the conventionsthey have ratified andthe During the 1960s and 1970s, with conservationand en- resolutionsthey have adopted(probably without knowing vironmentissues figuring prominentlyin many countries, exactly what they have done in the huge conferencehalls severalinternational treaties affecting birds came to fruition. with appallingacoustics, with peoplecontinually walking in The developmentof the Conventionon Wetlandsof Interna- and out and with any number of vociferous negotiations tional Importance especially as Habitat for Waterfowl going on all at the sametime!). (RamsarConvention, 1971) originallyused birds as the main The essenceof all this is what I once,in a presentationin criterionfor sitedesignation. The First United NationsCon- 1991 at the EuropeanBirdLife Conferencein Aachen(Ger- ference on Human Health and Environment (Stockholm many),described as the "ConventionParadox": that conven- 1972) gavea major stimulusfor the creationof severalmore tions are concludedby governmentorganisations but it is international agreementsof this kind. These include the usually through non-governmentorganisations that they Conventionon the Conservationof Migratory Speciesof becomeoperational. Wild (CMS, Bonn 1979), which affectsthe global When the InternationalWader StudyGroup adoptedthe conservationof the many migratorybird . "Odessa Protocol" in 1992, it entered the international arena In North America, the institutional framework for inter- of conservationpolicy relating to migratorybirds. I do not nationalco-operation in conservingmigratory birds was es- proposeto evaluatewhat this may have achieved. That is for tablishedearly in the 20th century.In 1916, Canadaand the the Final Declarationof the upcomingglobal flyway confer- United Statessigned a bilateral Conventionon the Conser- ence WaterbirdsAround the World (April 2004). Instead,I vationof MigratoryBirds, and in 1936,the United States and will summarisesome of the more importantaspects of cur- Mexico signeda similarconvention. By the 1980s,a long tra- rent developmentsconcerning those treaties and conventions ditionof internationalco-operation in waterfowlpopulation that involve waders, in the framework of which WSG mem- surveysand harvest management was in placeacross the con- bers are active (in a professionalor volunteerway) or could tinent.The needwas clear: international co-operation in har- becomeactive in makingthem really effective and useful. vestmanagement had to be extendedto includehabitat con-

Buffetin 100 April 2003 96 Boere: Global actiwheson the conservahon,management and sustainableuse of m•gratorywaterb•rds 97 servation.This needwas met by the bilateral,Canada-USA, search(the classicmethod of usingnumbered metal rings North American Waterfowl Management Plan signed in havingthe severelimitation that it requirebirds to be re- 1986; with Mexico formallyjoining the NAWMP in 1994. capturedor founddead before it canyield results);and Many waterbirdspecies (, geese, large waders) are PRESENT POLICIES AND LEGISLATION also consideredto be pest speciesfor musselfarming (eidersand oystercatchers), agricultural crops (especially Today, many internationallegal instrumentsassist in setting geese,swans and ducks,and, in Africa even somewad- prioritiesfor directconservation actions for birds.These fall ers when they feed on rice), grasslands(geese) and fish into the following categories:(a) legally binding accords, farming(, herons, pelicans and sawbills). This mainly betweengovernments, and often of a multilateral has stimulatedresearch, monitoring and other activities. nature;(b) bilateral accords;and (c) a wide variety of coop- erative arrangementsbetween different countries, between Becauseof thesefactors, the migrationroutes and numbers countries and NGOs, or between different NGOs. The nu- of waterbirdsare relatively well known, includingthose of merouspolicy documentscan be groupedas follows,all with the rare andendangered species. This knowledgehas stimu- specificuses and methods of implementation. lated the developmentof co-ordinatedconservation and managementactions along whole flyways. [21Global, regional and sub-regionalconventions and treaties: These arc mainly intergovernmentallegally THE INTERNATIONAL WATERBIRD CENSUS binding agreements,but also include less-bindingar- rangementssuch as "Statementsof Co-operation" or Collectingcensus data in non-breedingareas was the first of "Memoranda of Understanding". many activities focusedon waterbird conservation.Now, [21 Global, regional,sub-regional and national overviews: thereare severalco-ordinated census programmes for migra- Theseare reportson threatenedspecies or speciesat risk, tory waterbirdsincluding: oftenpresented as "RedData Lists",and generally based on standardcriteria developed by theInternational Union [21 The International Waterbird Census (IWC). This was for the Conservationof Nature (IUCN) or a specialized originally restrictedto Europeand the Mediterranean. relatedorganisation. Some larger countries with a federal The IWC started in 1967 (its first international co- structure,such as the USA, Canada,Germany and Rus- ordinator,George Atkinson-Willes, died only last year) sia, have adoptednational regulations to develop Red and is the longestrunning internationallyco-ordinated Listsat a nationalor sub-national(province, state) scale. biodiversitymonitoring programme in the world. Each [21 Overviews of birds of particular conservation con- year,the censustakes place over a weekendin mid-Janu- cern: Theseare focusedon speciesnot currentlythreat- ary and involves10,000-15,000 volunteercounters. ened, but which may becomeso without attention. [21Later, in the 1980s and 1990s, waterbird censuspro- [21Overviews and action plans for regions, flyways or grammesas part of IWC were developedfor the Asia- groupings of protected areas: thesehave a geographic Pacificregion, , Africa andthe Neotropics.Only focus. just recentlyan agreementhas been concludedbetween [21Action plans for singlespecies or speciesgroups: these and the Patuxent Wildlife Re- are eitherbased on taxonomicgroups or on a sharedcon- searchInstitute that will bring North Americandata into servationproblem. the IWC, makingit a truly globalprogramme. [21 Inventories of important habitats and areas: Thesecan [21In addition,many other regular international, national and be for birdsat all stagesof theirlife cycle(e.g. the Impor- local waterbird censusesare now carried out, including tant Bird Areas [IBA] Programmeof BirdLife Interna- someduring the breedingseason and a few that focuson tional). a singlespecies or groupsof species.Examples are sur- veys in the framework of North American Waterbird Waterbirds,and certainly waders, along with raptorsand Management Plan and circumpolar arrangementsfor ,as well as migratory birds in general, have long monitoringbreeding waders in the Arctic. beenof major interestto severalgroups of peopleincluding researchers,subsistence and sports hunters and not forgetting WetlandsInternational and its regionaloffices act as co- the large proportionof the generalpublic who enjoy bird ordinatorsof all these waterbird censusprogrammes by watching.There are very goodreasons why this is so: liasing with a network of national co-ordinatorsand mem- bersof the SpecialistGroups Network (sharedby Wetlands [21Many of the speciesbreed in large colonieswith good International, BirdLife International and IUCN). In all these access for research, observation and sustainable harvest active field surveys,close co-operation exists between the (of ,young or adult birds); BirdLife International partnersand the national agencies [21Their largesize makes it easyto observethem in thefield, involvedin managingprotected areas. thusfacilitating monitoring of populationsand exploita- Data from the IWC have playedan importantrole in de- tion for food by hunters; velopingthe toolsfor the Ramsar Conventionon Wetlands [21Many speciesconcentrate in large flocks outside the to designatewetlands of internationalimportance through the breedingseason and in a relativelysmall number of areas, well known 1% criterion. Also, thoseimplementing other thus facilitatingcensus-taking, catching and ringing; treatieslike the Bonn Conventionand the African-Eurasian [21Many speciesare large enough to applyindividual mark- WaterbirdAgreement are usingthe data for their policy de- ing systems(colour bands, wing tags,neck collars,small velopment. radio setsand, in recentyears, satellite tags) and sohave At regularintervals, all dataavailable are summarisedby been of great importancein fundamentalmigration re- WetlandsInternational in a publicationpresenting the world

Bulletin 100 April 2003 98 Wader Study Group Bullebn waterbirdpopulation estimates of presently868 waterbird Convention on the Conservation of Migratory specieswith over2,271 subspeciesor distinctbiogeographi- Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS; Bonn 1979) cal populations.Three volumeshave beenpublished so far: Waterbird PopulationEstimates 1, 2 and 3 (WPE 1 in 1994, The BonnConvention came into force in 1983.It requiresthe WPE2 in 1997 and WPE3 in November 2002 during the conservationand sustainableuse of all migratoryspecies, eighthmeeting of the Conferenceof Partiesof the Ramsar and so is an important instrument for . Convention). Annex 1 of the Conventionrequires strict protection for a In addition,census data are publishedby regions.Exam- numberof highly endangeredbird speciessuch as the Slen- ples include the International Waterbird Censusfor the der-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris and Siberian WesternPalearctic and SouthwestAsia 1995 and 1996 (pub- Grusleucogeranus; for bothof which separate"soft legal in- lished in 1999) and a similar volume for 1997, 1998 and struments",such as Memoranda of Understanding,have been 1999 (publishedin 2002). Regular reportshave also been concluded.Annex 2 of the Bonn Convention,lists a large publishedwith the resultsof the African WaterbirdCensus, groupof speciesand families for which co-ordinatedaction the AsianWaterbird censuses and the NeotropicalWaterbird is importantto maintainpopulations. This is mainlyachieved Census.More recently a number of overview reportshave through agreementsbetween the statesin which species appearedfor the North American Region,including one on occur. Good examplesfor birds are the African Eurasian shorebirds,as well as annualreports on populationtrends in Waterbird Agreement(AEWA; The Hague, 1995) and the quarry speciesproduced by the CanadianWildlife Service Agreement on the Conservation of and Petrel and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. These differ between (ACAP, CapeTown, 2001). The CMS hashigh potential as speciesgroups and from regionto region. a bird conservationtreaty and there are many new initiatives In view of the many flyway initiatives (see below) it is underwayto developagreements for flyways andthreatened hopedand expectedthat there will be an increasein water- groups. bird monitoringin areasthat are lesswell surveyed,such as large parts of Africa, Asia (particularlyCentral Asia) and Convention on Wetlands of International Impor- Central and South America. tance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Con- vention; Ramsar, 1971) THE FLYWAY CONCEPT One of the very first internationalconservation treaties, the Generally, a flyway is understoodto mean the entire range RamsarConvention is very importantfor bird conservation. of migratorywaterbird species (or groupsof speciesor dis- It is a successfulconvention because of its relativelysimple tinct populationsof a single species)from the breeding obligations,and has over 130 ContractingParties (Novem- groundsto the non-breedingarea, including the intermedi- ber 2002) and major NGO partners.Countries can become ate restingand feeding places and the areaswithin which the a ContractingParty by subscribingto the generalterms of the birdsmigrate. The conceptwas developedin North America conventionto conserveand sustainablyuse the resources andis now widely usedbecause it helpsus to understandthe associatedwith all wetlands(not only thoseof international problemsa migratorywaterbird encounters in its life cycle importance!)and by designatingat leastone of inter- and identifiesthe countriesthat shouldco-operate to protect nationalimportance. The resultsof the InternationalWater- and sustainablymanage the populations. bird Census,along with other criteria, are importantin the Flyways differ considerablyin length:many geesehave selection of wetlands of international importance. The relatively short and well-defined flyways, whereasmany has evolved from a bird-related conven- arctic-breedingwaders migrate huge distances. This hasim- tion to onedealing with the integratedconservation, manage- plicationsfor multilaterallegal arrangements. ment and sustainableuse of wetlands, fresh water resources The conceptfully supportsthe "ecosystemapproach" re- and catchment areas. quiredunder the Conventionon BiologicalDiversity (CBD), becausea flyway is in fact the entire ecosystemthat is nec- North American Waterfowl Management Plan essaryto enablea migratorywaterbird to survive. (NAWMP) Moreover the flyway concept, by definition, requires close co-operationbetween all statesinvolved. It can also The "foundingfather" of the flyway concept,it concentrates stronglystimulate co-operation between states to build up on the conservationand sustainablemanagement of migra- networksof scientists,conservationists and reservemanag- tory waterfowl in Canada,USA andMexico andis managed ers and stimulate a wealth of small-scale initiatives in all by four flyway councils.Originally signedin 1986 (after a fields of biodiversityand habitatconservation. long processof consultationsand negotiations),it was up- datedin 1994 and 1998 andis presentlybeing updated again. MULTILATERAL LARGE-SCALE FLYWAY INITIA- TIVES Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) I now presenta brief overview of variousmultilateral initia- tives at a flyway level (not in any particularorder) that are A network of large wetlands,coastal areas, etc., selectedon in various stagesof developmentor implementation.They thebasis that they support at least5% of a flyway population, alsorepresent a mixture of legally bindingand non-binding WHSRN is aimed at conservingthe most importantsites for arrangements.Governments initiated some. Others have their migratoryshorebirds. It couldbe thebackbone of a full flyway origin in scienceor in the activitiesof NGOs. agreementfor the Americasunder the Bonn Convention.

Buffetin 100 April 2003 Boere: Global activities on the conservation,management and sustainable use of migratorywaterbirds 99

US Shorebird Conservation Plan, Canadian Partners in Flight (PIF, 1991) and the North Ameri- Shorebird Plan and others can Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI, 1999/2000)

These are new initiatives at a national level but with wide- Theseare mainly platformsto protectmigratory birds in the ranginginternational implications, given the long distance wholeof the WesternHemisphere involving a largenumber migrationof the speciesthat they cover. of stakeholders:governmental organisations and NGOs, pri- vate landownersand the corporateworld. Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Migratory Birds Commission of the International This act came into force in the USA just before President Council for Wildlife Management (ClC) Clinton finalised his term. This providesthe framework for a number of national and Western Hemisphere Convention (Washington, 1940) internationalhunting organisations and their many activities involving, among others,harvesting waterbirds, co-ordin- This is generallynot usedbut remainsa tool for USA sup- ating applied researchand monitoring. port for variousprogrammes in Latin Americaand could be the internationallegal basisfor a major flyway agreement. REGIONAL AND BILATERAL INITIATIVES IMPOR- TANT FOR FLYWAYS African Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA, UNEP/CMS Bonn Convention) Many other arrangementsare in place for migratorybirds focussingon smallerareas or which servicebilateral co-op- This is the largestAgreement under the Bonn Convention eration between countries (Boere & Rubec 2002). The fol- both in geographicalcoverage (about 117 countries) and lowing is an overview of a few of the more importantinstru- species(about 175) and the largestflyway Agreementglo- ments and arrangements: bally. The AEWA cameinto forcein November1999 and has to date (January2003) beenratified by 38 Range States. EU Bird and Habitat Directives The Secretariatis basedat UNEP/CMS in Bonn, Germany. An Action Plan is in place and recently an applicationhas Very strong legal protection for both species,including beenmade to the Global EnvironmentFacility to supportthe migrants,and their habitatsin all EuropeanUnion member large-scaleimplementation of the AEWA. This application states. New member stateshave to comply with the EU is expectedto be successful. Directive at the time of their accession.This createsa large geographicalarea with good legal protectionfor migratory (CAF) birds.

This is a recentinitiative by UNEP/CMS, the Russianand Bern Convention: the Convention on the Protection Dutch Governments, the AEWA Secretariat and Wetlands of the European Fauna and Flora and their Habitat, International. It should lead to a co-ordinated effort to de- 1979 velop an actionplan and, in the long term, may becomea formal agreementlike AEWA. Here the priorityis to address Administeredby the Councilof Europe)has a specificannex the lack of data aboutmany species. for the protectionof migratoryspecies that is the basisfor a few African countriesratifying the Bern Convention. Asia-Pacific Migratory Waterbird Conservation Strategy (APMWCS; updated version of October Migratory Birds Convention Canada-USA (1906) 2000) and with Mexico (1936) The strategyincludes a largegeographical area in whichgen- One of the oldest legal instrumentsincludes substantive erally three flyways are identified:Central Asian Flyway, arrangementsfor the sustainableharvest of waterbirdpopu- East Asian-AustralasianFlyway and the West Pacific Fly- lations.A systemof "flyway councils"is in place andfacili- way. The work is co-ordinatedby Wetlands International tatesmany researchprojects on migratoryspecies. Amended with supportfrom the Governmentsof Japanand Australia. in 1978. Site-based networks for cranes, and shorebirds have been developed, stimulating many bilateral conservation Memorandum of Understanding actionson habitatand the wider countryside. (UNEP/CMS Bonn Convention)

America Pacific Flyway Initiative Aiming at the conservationof the varioussmall populations of this globally endangeredspecies, each with its distinctive This is an initiative from our good friend, the late Pablo flyway and stagingand wintering areas. The MoU provides Canevari,which he was unableto bring to fruition duringhis the basisfor active co-operationbetween the governments lifetime. With supportfrom the Dutch Government,a draft involved, NGOs (e.g., the InternationalCrane Foundation) strategywas developed that has been widely discussedin the and UNEP/CMS. The MoU is substantially supportedby region.The next stepis to redraftthe strategybased on com- funds from the Global EnvironmentFacility. ments received and make it an operational tool like the APMWCS.

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Slender-billedCurlew Memorandumof Understand- tionpriorities and translate scientific information into policy ing (UNEP/CMS Bonn Convention) proposals.Examples of suchbodies are:

Anotherflyway agreementfor a singlespecies that is one of TheScientific and Technical Review Panel of theRamsar the world's rarest birds. It facilitates a number of conserva- Convention(a relativelysmall team of experts);meetings tion activitiesin wetlandsin the formerwintering area and are open to observerson invitation. surveysof supposedlast strongholdsin the Middle East. The ScientificCouncil of the Bonn Conventionwith a representativeof eachparty (over seventy)and a large Bilateral agreements on migratory birds numberof experts.Council meetings are open to observer countries and a number of NGOs. Thereare quite a numbersuch as: -Australia (CAMBA), The SubsidiaryBody on Scientific,Technical and Tech- -, Australia-Japan (JAMBA), Russia-Japan, nologicalAdvice of the Conventionon Biodiversity.This USA-Russia,Korea D.P.R-Russia and Japan-USA. Canada is a largebody with representativesof all partiesand meet- hasagreements on migratoryspecies with Ireland,Russia and ings are of hundredsof people,including many NGOs. the UK. Some of thesebilateral agreements are quite effec- SubsidiaryBody for Scientificand TechnicalAdvice for tive, but ! prefer multilateralones because, in practice,they theFramework Convention on ClimateChange, however are uselessif they do not coverall countries.If a multilateral the independentInternational Panel on Climate Change agreementis notpossible, e.g. for politicalreasons, theoreti- is effectivelythe scientificbody. cally you needa coupleof thousandbilateral onesto secure the interestof migratorybirds! The level of informationavailable is extremelybiased to- wards developedcountries, notably Western Europe and National legislation NorthAmerica, despite the exchange of expertsand training facilitiesavailable for developingcountries. Many countriesdo protectbird specieson their territory,in- I outlinebelow someof the prioritiesfor data collection cluding migratory species.However, somecountries have and research,as seenthrough the eyesof the policy makers, also developed specific legislation for the protection of to helpthem answer the conservation and management ques- migratoryspecies; examples include the USA andAustralia. tionsarising from the policiesdescribed in thispaper.

Other initiatives important for migratory waterbirds More and detailedinformation on migrationroutes and the importanceof stagingposts. A very largenumber of otherinternational conventions, trea- Long-terminfluences of climatechange (particularly in tiesand regional co-operating bodies can help protect migra- the Saheland the Arctic) on bird populations;including tory waterbirds:the Conventionof Algiers, OSPAR, West- an analysisof existingdatabases containing long-term ern HemisphereConvention, regional treaties in Africa, Asia monitoringdata. andNorth America(NAFTA). Many suchbodies have struc- Long term influencesof large scalelogging of tropical turesin place, suchas environmentalcommittees, that can forests addresswaterbird conservationas an integral part of bio- Impactsof ecologicalchanges in the winteringareas of diversityand habitat conservation (see Boere & Rubec2002). migratorybirds. A goodexample is the WorkingGroup on the Conservation Impact of coastaland shallow-waterfisheries (for flat of Arctic Fauna and Flora (CAFF). The CAFF Working fish) on winteringbirds. Group plays an importantrole co-ordinatingconservation, Populationeffects of harvestingbirds for food (i.e. not researchand sustainableuse efforts at a circumpolarlevel. sportshunting). The Arctic is in fact the main "source" for many of the More work on the value of birds as bio-indicators. waterbirdspecies populating the variousflyways aroundthe A globaloverview of all ImportantBird Areas. world. CAFF alsoinitiated the publicationof a comprehen- siveoverview report on the "Conservationof MigratoryArc- CONCLUSIONS tic BreedingBirds outsidethe Arctic". For the Arctic breeding groundsof so many waterbird General species,the possibleeffect of climate changeis important and may have a negative influence on distribution and There are numerouswell-developed international arrange- populations.In this regard,actions underway within the UN ments,with wide geographicalcoverage, available to further Framework Conventionon Climate Changeshould have an the interests of bird conservation. While some, such as important long-term effect. flyway agreements,could usefully be developedfurther, muchcan be achievedwith existingtreaties, conventions and RESEARCH initiatives.It is, however,important that people know of their existence,so that pressurecan be appliedon governmentsto While the need for information for the various conventions, deliver on the obligationsto which they are signatories.In treaties,policy documentsand so on is enormous,resources this,the role of NGOs is vital. The InternationalWader Study for (applied) researchare even scarcerthan for conservation Group is one suchNGO and is one to which the "Conven- actions. Much of the basic information needed for effective tion Paradox"applies. conservationand managementof migratorybirds is limited It is alsovery clearthat to functioneffectively, many trea- or even completelylacking. ties requirea certainminimal infrastructure,such as a sec- Many of the internationalconventions have technical and retariat,regular meetings of the parties,and implementation scientific institutions that advise on research and data collec- strategies,as well as plans that are supportedby adequate

Bulletin 100 April 2003 Boere. Global acbwbeson the conservabon,management and sustainableuse of m•gratorywaterb•rds 101 funding. Increasingly,international arrangements develop [] Monitoringand research of migratorywaterbirds is rela- their own work plans,and the largerones, such as the Con- tively well-developedand is providingmodels for popu- ventionon Biological Diversity, have a fast growing influ- lation ecology, fundamentalresearch on ecology and enceon the way governmentsand NGOs set their own pri- migration of speciesand it involves large numbersof orities at the global level. Thereforeit is essentialthat bird volunteers. conservation issues continue to be addressed in these fora, [] The Conventionon the Conservationof Migratory Wild not only in relation to species,but also the conservationof Animalsis involvedin many migratorywaterbird initia- their habitatsand ecosystems. tives and can provide the global and legal framework necessaryfor internationalco-operation. Flyway conservation The plannedinternational conference, Waterbirds Around In the more specificcase of flyway conservation,the follow- theWorld, 3-8 April 2004 in Edinburgh,UK, will be entirely ing additionalconclusions can be formulated: focussedon the whole spectrumof issuesrelated to global waterbirdflyways. Hopefully this will lead to the adoption [] Migratorywaterbirds are a biodiversityresource shared of a final declarationthat will be an importantinput into the by all countriesof theworld; conserving and sustainably decision-makingprocesses of the intergovernmentalfora using them helps to protect the biodiversity of many mentionedabove. In WSG terminology:"the OdessaProto- countries at the same time. col, revisited, updatedand enlarged!" [] Most speciesare highly migratorycovering large dis- tances,concentrating in large numbersat often a small REFERENCE number of places,making them vulnerableto external influences;but attractivefor bird-watchingand ecologi- This article is an updatedsummary of a more extensive cal tourism at the same time. analysisof internationallegislation relevant to bird conser- [] The flywayconcept supports the ecosystem approach by vation contained in: protectingseveral habitat types at the sametime in to providebreeding, resting and non-breeding areas dur- Boere, G.C. & Rubec, C.D.A. 2002. Conservationpolicies ing the whole annualcycle. and programmesaffecting birds. pp. 246-270 in: Norris & [] RangeStates are really forcedto work togetherto con- Pain (eds.) ConservingBird Biodiversity;general principles servemigratory species because of the interestthey share and their application. Cambridge University Press,Cam- in conservingeach others biodiversity and assuringthat bridge. useof speciesin onecountry is co-ordinatedwith others in order to avoid unsustainableuse of populations.

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