Boere& Lenten:The African-EurasianWaterbird Agreement: a technicalagreement under the BonnConvention

The African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement: a technical agreementunder the Bonn Convention G.C. Boere & B. Lenten

Boere,G.C. & Lenten,B. 1998.The African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement: a technicalagreement under the Bonn Conventionv International Wader Studies 10: 45-50.

The historyof the developmentof theAfrican-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement of theBonn Convention(Convention on theconservation of migratoryspecies) is outlined.The Dutch Governmentcommenced drafting the Agreement in 1988and the textwas concluded at a final negotiationmeeting at TheHague in June1996. The Agreement is now openfor signatureand it is expectedthat the firstConference of theContracting Parties will occurin 1999in SouthAfrica. The paperoutlines the principle obligations assumed by signatoriesto theAgreement and the legal implicationsof these.Various related activities are already underwa)5 such as the developmentof a numberof singlespecies international action or recoveryplans.

G.C.Boere & B. Lenten,AEWA Interim Secretariat, c/o Departmentof Nature Management, P.O. Box 20401,2500 EK TheHague, The Netherlands.

dependenton the specificsites they find, not only at Introduction and Perspective the end of theirjourney, but alsoalong the way. Throughouthistory, migration has been a Increasingly,these sites are threatenedby man-made universalphenomenon. Many animalsmigrate in disturbancesand habitatdegradation. Migratory responseto biologicalrequirements, such as the animalsmay alsofall victim to adversenatural needto find suitablelocations for breedingand phenomenasuch as unfavourable climatic raisingtheir young,and to be in favourableareas conditions.All theseinfluences are aggravatedby for feeding. In somecases, these specific the factthat, in legalterms, it haslong been held that requirementsare fulfilledin locationsthat are migratoryspecies are not the soleresponsibility of separatedby distancesof thousandof kilometres. any onecountry that couldbe held responsiblefor any harm occurringto theseanimals. During their migrationthese cross political boundaries between nations: boundaries that have In 1972 the United Nations Conference on the no inherentmeaning for animals,but which have a Human Environmentrecognized the need for dramaticinfluence on their annuallife-cycles and countriesto co-operatein the conservationof their individual survivalchances due to the great animalsthat migrateacross national boundaries or differences that exist between countries in betweenareas of nationaljurisdiction and the high conservationpolicy. Migratory speciesare seas. This recommendation resulted in the

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Conventionon the Conservationof Migratory Table1. Shorthistorical overview of treatiesinvolving Speciesof Wild Animals,commonly referred to as migratorybirds in Africa-Eurasia. the BonnConvention (after the Germancity where it was concluded in 1979), which came into force in 1902 - Convention for the Protectionof 1983. usefulto agriculture(referred to as theParis Convention- this Convention did not mention The aim of the Conventionis to provide migratorybirds specifically). conservationmeasures for migratoryterrestrial, 19150- Convention for the Pro•ection of Birds, marineand avianspecies over the wholeof their substitutingthe 1902Convention of Paris; range. Thisis very important,because failure to 1970 - BeneluxConvention on Huntingand conservethese species at any particularstage of Protection of Birds; their life cyclecould adversely affect any 1979 - The Directive of the Council of the conservation efforts elsewhere. The fundamental EuropeanEconomic Community on the principlesof the BonnConvention, therefore, are: Conservation of WiId Birds• 1979 - Convention onthe ConservatiOnOf that the Parties of the Bonn Convention MigratorySpecies of Wild Animals(Bonn acknowledgethe importanceof migratory Convention) speciesbeing conserved; ......

that RangeStates of particularspecies After the first Conference of Parties of the Bonn agreeto takeaction to thisend whenever Conventionit was decidedto preparean Agreement possibleand appropriate,paying special for the Western Palearctic . In 1988 the attentionto migratoryspecies of which DutchGovernment began developing a draft the is unfavourable; WesternPalearctic Waterfowl Agreement as part of and its WesternPalearctic Flyway conservation programme.In 1991a draft, includingan Action that RangeStates take individually,or in Plan for ,swans and geeseand a general co-operation,appropriate and necessary ManagementPlan for all waterfowl,was sentto the stepsto conservesuch species and their EuropeanCommission which offeredto sponsorthe habitat. Agreement.However little progresscould be made within the EuropeanCommission. Partiesacknowledge the needto take actionto avoid any migratoryspecies becoming endangered. In In early 1993the BonnConvention secretariat, in particular,the Partiesto the Convention: closeco-operation with the DutchGovernment, againtook the initiative. The textof theAgreement shallendeavour to provideimmediate and relateddocuments was updated,a stronger protectionfor migratoryspecies included Africancomponent was incorparatedand the name in AppendixI; was changedinto the African-EurasianWaterbird Agreement(AEWA). shallendeavour to concludeAgreements coveringthe conservationand The first consultativemeeting of RangeStates of the managementof migratoryspecies AEWA was held in Nairobi in June 1994. The includedin AppendixII. meetingstrongly supported the completionof AEWA, and agreedthat consensuscould be The primarytools for the implementationof the achieved on almost all matters of substance. In June main aim of the Bonn Convention are called 1995the final negotiationmeeting was held in The Agreements.They aremore specific than the Hague. At this meeting64 RangeStates and the Conventionitself, involve more deliberatelythe EuropeanUnion were represented.Several inter- RangeStates of the speciesto be conservedand are governmentaland non-governmentalorganizations easierto put into practicethan the wholeBonn attendedthe negotiationmeeting as observers.The Convention. meetingadopted the Agreement by consensus,and accepted,with appreciation,the offerof the A brief historical review Governmentof the Kingdomof the Netherlandsto actas Depositary and to provide,at its own expense TheAfrican-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement under until 1 January1999, an Interim Secretariatand to the BonnConvention is not the first nor the only hostthe first sessionof the Meetingof the Parties. internationalagreement aimed at the conservation of migratorybirds. A reviewof historicaland The Dutch Government,Ministry of Agriculture, existinginstruments has been published by Lyster Nature Managementand Fisheriesestablished the (1985). Interim Secretariaton 1 January1996.

Besides the above mentioned Conventions, a The procedurefor signingand ratifyingthe numberof bilateralconventions for example Agreementhas been delayed because of problems betweenJapan and U.S.A.,the formerUSSR, Japan with the Russian and Arabic translation of the and Australia, etc. were concluded. Agreementtext. In March 1996these problems

46 Boere& Lenten: The African-EurasianWaterbird Agreement: a technicalagreement under the BonnConvention

Algeria Greece Romania Andorra Guinea Russian Federation Angola Guinea -Bissau Rwanda Armenia Hungary Sao Tome and Principe.. •Austria Iceland SaniMago Azerbaijan Iran Saudi Arabia Bahrain Iraq Senegal Belarus Ireland Seychelles Belgium Israel Sierra Leone 'Benin Italy Slovakia '•Bosnia'Herzegovina Jordan Slovenia Botswana Kazakhstan Somalia Bulgaria Kenya South Africa Burkina Faso Kuwait Spain Burundi, Latvia :Sudan 'Cameroon •banon Swaziland Canada Lesotho Sweden Cape Verde Liberia Switzerland CentralAfrican Republic LibyanArab.Jamahiriya Syrian Arab Republic .Chad Liechtenstein :Theformer Yugoslav Republic

ComO'it0s Littm•a. . of:Maced0•a Congo Luxembourg Tanzania C6te d•Ivore Madagascar Tunisia 'Croatia Malawi Turkey :'Cyprus Mali:: Turkmenistan :i-C.zech.Republic Malta Uganda Denmark Mauritani a •ine Djibouti Mauritius United Arab Emirates Egypt Monaco United Kingdom of Great EquatorialGUinea Morocco Britain and Northern Ireland Mozambique Uzbekistan Eritrea Namibia Yemen Estoni• Netherlands Yugoslavi• Ethiopia Niger Zaire Finland Nigeria Zambia France Norway z'rmbabwe Gabon. Oman EuropeanCommission 'Gambia poland Georgia PortUgal Germany Qatar .Ghana Republic of:Moldavia

Table 2. List of RangeStates. were solved,including some minor linguistic ß Firstlythe Agreementtext, which problemswith the Englishand Frenchversions. describesthe philosophy,legal frameworkand provisions; TheAgreement has been open for signatureat the Ministry of ForeignAffairs of the Netherlandsfrom Secondlyan Action Plan, which describes 15 August 1996. the conservation actions that are to be taken.The Action Plan is at present The Netherlands, Guinea, Switzerland, Sudan, restrictedto geese,swans, ducks, Jordanand EquatorialGuinea have signedwithout spoonbills,ibises and storks. the needfor furtherratification. German• Ireland, UnitedKingdom, Mali, Luxembourg, Morocco, TheAfrican-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement is the Togo,Spain, Greece, and the EuropeanCommunity firstregional Agreement of a vastarea of 60 million haveall signedwith reservationswith respectto squarekilometres. It coversthe entirecontinent of ratification.a further30 or socountries are currently Africa and Europe,as well asparts of Asia and a in the processof ratification. few Arctic islands of north-eastern Canada, encompassingabout 120 Range States (see Table 2 The African-Eurasian Waterbird and Figure1). AEWA covers170 species(see Table 3). Agreement In implementingthe Agreementtwo fundamental Structureof the Agreement: principleshave been agreed on: TheAfrican-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement has two parts,both of which arelegally binding:

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Technical Committee In the Agreementthe establishmentof a technical committee is foreseen. This technical committee shallcomprise:

a) nine expertsrepresenting different regions of the AgreementArea;

b) onerepresentative of the International Unionfor Conservationof Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), oneof WetlandInternational and oneof the International Councilfor Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC); and

c) oneexpert in eachof thefollowing fields:rural economics,game management, and environmental law.

The taskof thiscommittee is to providescientific and technical advice and information, to make recommendationsconcerning the ActionPlan and Agreement,etc. for the Meeting of the Parties.

Action Plan The secondPart of the Agreementis the ActionPlan. Figure1. Map of the AgreementArea ThisAction Plan specifiesactions which Parties shallundertake in relationto priority speciesand 1. Parties shall take co-ordinated measures to issues,under the followingheadings, consistent maintain migratory waterbird speciesin a with the generalconservation measures: favourable conservation status or to restore them to such a status; a) speciesconservation; 2. In implementing the measuresof paragraph1, b) habitat conservation; Parties should take into account the c) managementof humanactivities; precautionary principle. d) researchand monitoring; e) educationand information;and Conservation measures to be taken f) implementation.

Basedon the FundamentalPrinciples, Parties shall These are described below. takegeneral conservation measures. These measures include: Speciesconservation The firstgroup of actionsis directedtowards the I. Partiesshall take measures to conservemigratory conservationof species.It providesfor legislation waterbirdsgiving special attention to endangered and law enforcementmeasures to be undertakenby speciesas well asto thosewith an unfavourable status; Parties,development of programmesfor emergency situations,both natural and causedby human II. To this end, the Parties shall inter alia: activities,and the developmentof International SpeciesConservation Plans for all threatenedand protectendangered migratory waterbird vulnerablespecies of populationsof watebirds. speciesin the Agreementarea by strict Habitat conservation legalprotection; The secondgroup of activitiesconcerns the ensurethat any useof migratory conservationof habitatsand importantsites. Parties waterbirds is based on sustainable use; shallendeavour to continueestablishing protected areasand shallgive specialprotection to wetlands identify sitesand habitatsand encourage of internationalimportance. Furthermore, they will endeavour to make wise and sustainsable use of all their protection,management, rehabilation and restoration; wetlands,to avoid degradationor to restoreor rehabilitateareas that are importantto populations.

developand maintainprogrammes to Managementof humanactivities raiseawareness and understandingof The third groupof activitiesis the managementof migratorywaterbird conservation issues; human activities. One of the human activities is

48 Boere& Lenten: The African-EurasianWaterbird Agreement: a technicalagreement under the BonnConvention

. .. Gaviidae Divers Gruidae Cranes Podicipedidae Grebesand Coots Rallidae Rails, Crakes, Gallinules Pelecanidae Pelicans Dromadidae Crab Plover Phalacrocoracidae Cormorants Recurvirostfidae Stilts and Avocets Ardeidae Bitterns,Herons, Egrets Glareolidae Courses and Pranticol• Ciconiidae Storks •Charadriidae Lapwingsand Plovers: ,ThreSkiornithidaeIbises and Spoonbills:: SColopacidae Curlews•':SandpiPersand Snipes Laridae Gulls' and Terns Phoenicopteridae Flamingos Anatidae WhistlingDucks, Swans, Geese and Ducks

Table 3. List of taxacovered by theAEWA. UK and IWRB (Stroud 1994; Stroud 1998). Also, speciesconservation plans were draftedfor Lesser hunting. Partiesshall co-operate to ensurethat their White-frontedGoose Anser erythropus, Slender- huntinglegislation implements the principle of billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris,Dalmatian sustainable use. In order to assess the annual PelicanPelicanus crispus, Pygmy Cormorant harvestof populations,Parties shall co-operate with Phalacrocoraxpygmeus, White-headed Oxyuara a view to developinga reliableand harmonized leucocephala,Marbled Duck Marmaronetta systemfor the collectionof harvestdata. Eco- angustirostrisand Red-breastedGoose Branta tourismis anotherkind of humanactivity that may ruficollis(Heredia et al. 1996). The drafting of these affectwaterbird populations. Therefore, Parties shall conservationplans was financedby the Councilof encourageeco-tourism, where appropriate,but not Europeand the EuropeanCommission. in corezones or protectedareas. On the initiative of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Research,monitoring, education, information and Conference1994, a singlespecies action plan for implementation Dark-bellied Brent Goose Branta bernicla bernicla is Besidesthe abovementioned groups of activities underpreparation. The DutchMinistry of researchand monitoringis very important. Agriculture,Nature Managementand Fisheries, Scientificresearch and monitoring of themigratory NationalReference Centre for Nature is financing waterbirdpopulation can reveal population trends, this project. point out prioritiesfor protectionactivities and discover the reasons for unfavourable In closeco-operation with the DutchReference developments. Centre for Nature, the Danish National Forest and NatureAgency will preparea managementplan for Education and information is also a must. Without the Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo. thesekind of activitiesthere will not be public awarenessof the importanceof conservationof WetlandsInternational has produced a Flyway migratorybirds. In the long run thiswill negatively Atlasfor MigratoryAnatidae Populations in the influencethe acceptanceof all the activities WesternPalearctic Region late in 1996(Scott & Rose mentioned in the AEWA. 1996). Thisproject was fundedby the Ministeryof Agriculture,Nature Managementand Fisheriesof The ActionPlan shallbe reviewedat eachordinary the Netherlands and the UK's Joint Nature sessionof the Meetingof the Parties.The first Conservation Committee. sessionwill takeplace no later than oneyear after the date of the entryinto forceof thisAgreement. In accordancewith the Programmefor International Thismeeting will probablytake place in 1998. Nature Management(1996-2000) of the Government of the Netherlands,special attention is, and will be, givento wetlandsand migratrorybirds in Western Activities that have already Africa. taken place Athoughthe Agreement has not yet enteredinto Work programmefor the interim force,some actions have been taken already. secretariat After the establishment of the Interim Secretariat in January1996, the new secretarystarted with the Accordingto the FinalAct of the AEWA Negotiation normal activities needed for a secretariat, such as Meeting (1995),the meetinginvited the Interim settingup archives,databases, etc. Furthermore, AgreementSecretariat to preparea proposalfor the during severalinternational meetings presentations firstMeeting of Partiesconcerning: were given to promoteAEWA. a) amendmentof the Action Plan with regardto A speciesconservation plan hasbeen drafted (but speciesor families listed in AnnexH to the not yet finalised)for GreenlandWhite-fronted Agreement; GooseAnser albifronsfiavirostris, financed by Ireland, b) a review of the conservationstatus of populationscovered by the Action Plan;

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c) criteria related to emergencysituations; In the future, AEWA will function as the d) the Conservation Guidelines; governmentalplatform for integratedconservation e) format for reportsof the Parties; and managementon the wholeWestern Palearctic f) a budget,financial rules,and othermatters Flyway. It is not a new legislationbut rather,acts as relating to the financial arrangementsfor the a frameworkfor co-operationand co-ordinationin Agreement; the conservation of a natural resource shared g) the establishmentof the TechnicalCommittee; amongst120 Range States. Currently it actsas an and examplefor similaragreements in otherflyways, h) a logofor theAgreement. suchas that beingprepared for the AsianPacific Flyway. The Work programmefor the Interim Secretariat showsthat for the period1996-1997 priority will be References givento thepreparation of proposalsfor the above Heredia,B., Rose,L. & Painter,M. 1996. Globallythreatened mentioned items b, c, d, e and h. birdsin Europe.Action Plans. Council of Europe Publishing,Strasbourg. For the preparationof the Reviewof the Lyster,S. 1985. Internationalwildlife law. Grotius, conservationstatus of populations(b), and the Cambridge. ConservationGuidelines (d), Wetlands International Scott,D.A. & Rose,EM. 1996. Atlasof Anatidae Populations will be contractedby the Interim Secretariat.The in Africaand Western Eurasia. Wetlands otherissues will be addressedby the Secretariat International Publication No. 41, Wetlands itself. International,Wageningen, The Netherlands. Stroud, D.A. 1994. Towards an international conservation Conclusion plan for GreenlandWhite-fronted Geese Anser It is widely felt that conclusionsof the Agreement albifronsfiavirostris.In: E.J.M.Hagemijer & T.J. will stronglyencourage international co-operation Verstrael (eds.), Numbers1992. Distribution, (surveys/research/habitatprotection/new reserves/ monitoringand ecological aspects. Proceedings of 12th changesin agriculturalpolicies) between Africa and InternationalConference of the IBCC and EOAC, Eurasia. pp. 169-175.The Netherlands. Stroud, D.A. 1998. A model for international waterfowl managementagreements: the GreenlandWhite- frontedGoose Anser albifrons fiavirostris. International Wader Studies 10: this volume.

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