Plan of action for coastal wetlands Visit our website NEWSLETTER and bird populations

TABLE OF CONTENT

3 : Long-term changes in seagrass and News benthos at Banc d’Arguin, the premier intertidal system along the East Atlantic Flyway 1 Avian flu kills several pelicans in Mauritania and

2 MigrationJet fighter’ godwit breaks world record for Update from projects non-stop bird flight 4 DIOE Project (WIACO): From mapping the use of 2 World Migratory Bird Day An overview of key sites in Senegal to establishing networks of celebrations in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis counters for waterbird census

4 Capacity building for managers in Mauritania: Training in Ramsar sites information system and Scientific publications update of Ramsar datasheet

2 Mauritania: Changes in the waterbird community of 4 Publication: the 2020 global report on international the Parc National du Banc d’Arguin waterbird census is out

3 Guinea-Bissau: What fuels shorebird food webs 4 Saloum Delta: Directorate of National Parks in in a pristine mangrove-bordered West African Senegal develops 8 protocols on the monitoring of intertidal ecosystem key species in biosphere reserve

3 Guinea-Bissau: Creating linkages between shorebirds and people through traditional shell hunting in the Bijagós 5 Agenda

Avian flu kills several pelicans in Mauritania and Senegal

On 23 January 2021, an ecological tragedy unfolded at the large Djoudj National Park of Senegal in which 750 pelicans (740 offspring and 10 adults) died, as reported by the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Abdou Karim Sall.

Read more

News

Newsletter PAZHOC - March 2021 Page #1 The Regional Partnership Plan of action for coastal wetlands for Coastal and Marine and bird populations - PAZHOC Conservation

MIGRATION Jet fighter’ godwit breaks world record for non-stop bird flight

A bird said to have the aerodynamic build of a “jet fighter” has been tracked flying more than 12,000km (7,500 miles) from Alaska to New Zealand, setting a new world record for avian non-stop flight.

The bar-tailed godwit set off from south-west Alaska on 16 September and arrived in a bay near Auckland 11 days later, having flown at speeds of up to News 55mph.

Read more

WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY An overview of celebrations in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis

Every year around the world, a break is taken to celebrate the World Migratory Bird Day. This celebration takes place twice in a year, i.e. on the second Saturday of May and October. First established in 2006 as part of the Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals, this World Day can be seen as an awareness-raising campaign focusing on the need to preserve migratory birds and their habitats. News Although the COVID-19-related global health crisis has disrupted initial plans, conservation stakeholders were nevertheless keen on leaving an imprint on this year’s edition, the selected theme of which was “Birds connect the world”. The objective of this year’s edition was to show the role of birds as representing shared resources and shared responsibilities in terms of environmental protection. Hence the interest in protecting them along with their habitats.

A look back at the highlights of the World Migratory Birds Day in Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau.

Read more

MAURITANIA Changes in the waterbird community of the Parc National du Banc d’Arguin

Authors: Thomas Oudman et al.

The Parc National du Banc d’Arguin in Mauritania hosts the largest concentrations of coastal waterbirds along the East Atlantic Flyway. In spite of this importance, a review of the changes in the numbers of waterbirds in the area is lacking since the first complete count in 1980. Here we analysed the seven complete Scientific publications waterbird counts made since then, and the additional yearly counts made in one subunit (Iwik region) since 2003.

Read more

Newsletter PAZHOC - March 2021 Page #2 The Regional Partnership Plan of action for coastal wetlands for Coastal and Marine and bird populations - PAZHOC Conservation

GUINEA-BISSAU What fuels shorebird food webs in a pristine mangrove- bordered West African intertidal ecosystem

Authors: Mohamed Henriquesa et al. Mangrove forests are dominant elements in many tropical and sub-tropical coastal and estuarine ecosystems and are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, providing a wide variety of services benefiting both the human well-being and nearby ecological systems. Africa is the continent with Scientific publications the second largest extent of mangroves, and Guinea-Bissau, in west Africa, is currently among the 15 countries with the largest extent of mangrove forest in the world, and the second in Africa.

Read more

GUINEA-BISSAU Creating linkages between shorebirds and people through traditional shell hunting in the Bijagós

Authors: Ana P. Coelho et al. The Bijagós archipelago stands as a major overwintering site for migratory shorebirds on the East Atlantic flyway where several bird populations are currently declining. The archipelago is also home to the Bijagós people, known for their rich cultural heritage and their complex land management systems Scientific publications designed to protect natural resources, based on sacred rules and woods.

To better understand the modes of shellfish harvesting, their cultural and economic importance, and how local conservation actions can protect the benthos, interviews with female shellfish farmers were conducted on islands where management is different due to their engagement in traditional practices.

Read more

MAURITANIA Long-term changes in seagrass and benthos at Banc d’Arguin, the premier intertidal system along the East Atlantic Flyway

Authors: El-Hacen et al. The benthic communities of soft-sediment intertidal ecosystems trophically underpin the migration of birds and fish. Within the East Atlantic Flyway, along the coast of West-Africa, the intertidal mudflats of Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, host over 2 million migratory waterbirds. Despite the protected status of the Banc Scientific publications d’Arguin, geographical remoteness and seemingly benign human exploitation, we show that large changes have taken place in the intertidal benthic macrofauna across an interval of 28 years...

Read more

Newsletter PAZHOC - March 2021 Page #3 The Regional Partnership Plan of action for coastal wetlands for Coastal and Marine and bird populations - PAZHOC Conservation

DIOE PROJECT (WIACO): From mapping the use of key sites in Senegal to establishing networks of counters for waterbird census

As part of the activities for the transition to phase II, the capacity development project for the conservation and monitoring of waterbirds along the West Africa coast (DIOE) engaged key players (park workers and volunteers) in September 2020 to collect information on the use of the sites located in the areas of the Saloum Delta and of the lower delta of the Senegal River. Update from projects Read more

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR MANAGERS IN MAURITANIA Training in Ramsar sites information system and update of Ramsar datasheet

The managers of the Banc d’Arguin National Park and of the Diawling National Park in Mauritania attended a five-day training seminar (7-13 December 2020) on the access to and use of the Ramsar sites information service (RSIS). The training was part of the strategies developed under the Plan of action for wetlands and coastal areas (PAZHOC) which seeks to build stakeholders’ capacities. Update from projects Read more

PUBLICATION the 2020 global report on international waterbird census is out

Countries ranging from Iceland to and from Norway to South Africa, along the East Atlantic flyway, were invited to participate on 15 January 2020 in the census of waterbirds using that flyway. A total of 250 species of waterbirds were counted. The 95 priority species of the East Atlantic flyway were found to have a population of over 14 million individuals. Update from projects Download the report

SALOUM DELTA Directorate of National Parks in Senegal develops 8 protocols on the monitoring of key species in biosphere reserve

As part of the harmonisation of biodiversity monitoring systems (for sea turtles, red colobuses, hyenas, manatees, waterbirds, waterbird colonies, dolphins) under the PAZHOC project (Saloum Delta), the Directorate of the National Parks of Senegal, in partnership with the Directorate of Marine Protected Areas, Update from projects developed eight protocols on the monitoring of key species in the biosphere reserve of the Saloum Delta.

Download the protocols

Newsletter PAZHOC - March 2021 Page #4 Plan of action for coastal wetlands and bird populations - PAZHOC

AGENDA

International Day for 22 Biological Diversity may 2021

World Oceans 08 Day june 2021

Partners

This action plan is implemented with the financial support of

The Regional Partnership for Coastal and Marine Conservation (PRCM)

Sacré coeur 3, Villa no. 9866 - Dakar, Senegal Tel: +221 33 867 97 66 Website: www.prcmarine.org Facebook: prcmarine Twitter: @prcmarine