Banc d'Arguin National Park in
Mauritania. 1.2 million hectares of shallow, grassy water. Plankton thrive here. Low-tide reveals the abundance of food for birds. Over the winter, curlew sandpipers shared this spot with over 40 other water bird
species more than 1.5 million birds spending their days feeding and resting
until most of them depart in the spring for their breeding grounds. The National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site is a haven for people and wildlife, but like
so many of the world's wetland ecosystems (even though is protected by
treaty) the park faces numerous threats including unregulated human activity and
rising sea levels from climate change. Managing these threats requires
collaboration between local and international partners to monitor and
protect these unique places. Migratory waterbirds have more than one home.
Species like the Curlew sandpiper rely on a network of critical sites that
spans political borders. Each year they travel from where they nest and raise
their young, to their wintering grounds on journeys that can last weeks and
spanned thousands of kilometres. Between these sites most of them depend on
staging sites: places where birds find predictable, abundant food and the
opportunity to rest to maintain the energy that powers their flights over land and sea. These staging sites are similar to service
stations for people when driving on long trips. They are the specific locations
water birds have evolved to rely on to complete their yearly life cycle. Birds
cannot survive without their intact network of critical breeding staging and
wintering sites. Because of threats to their sites, Curlew sandpipers– some of
which travel 15,000 kilometers twice a year, have lost 50% of their population
in the last 40 years. The migratory routes birds use to move between
critical sites, form the flyways of the world. One of these is the African
Eurasian Flyway; a massive collection of networks stretching from the
Scandinavian, European, and Russian Arctic to temperate and tropical regions of
southern Africa. Within this Flyway over 250 bird species dependent on wetlands
for at least part of their annual cycle, like the Curlew Sandpiper, the Ruff, the
Damara Tern and Black-tailed Godwit passed through 119 countries in Africa,
the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic
Archipelago. In 1995 the agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, or "AEWA", was created to protect these
species and the habitats that are crucial for their survival. Sites that
ensure healthy environments for birds and people. When these sites are in
danger, species begin to decline. Like the Curley Sandpiper, many water birds are
showing population decreases in parts of Africa, Central Asia, and Europe. One such species in decline, the Lesser white-fronted goose departs in late August from its Tundra breeding grounds in the Russian Arctic or northern
Scandinavia, traveling up to 7,000 kilometers along multiple routes
crossing 20 countries. Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan post significant staging sites. The geese use a range of habitats including steppe grasslands and natural
floodplains. Their wintering grounds are located in Greece and spread throughout
the Middle East along the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and Persian Gulf. Although the species is legally protected, between 1998 and 2008 the
population of this rarest goose within the Flyway decreased by over 30% due to
the loss of natural floodplain habitats and illegal killing across their
migratory routes. Climate change is also altering their Arctic breeding grounds. Another species, the Sociable lapwing has
a population of less than 16,000 today. These birds, named for their large
congregations formed during migration breed in loose colonies. They nest in
steppe habitat, where the grass is kept short by grazing animals. Prior to 1960,
the lapwings range included parts of southwestern Russia and much of Sudan.
Today this critically endangered species faces threats across its life cycle and
has disappeared from many places because of illegal hunting at many sites and
habitat loss from changed agricultural practices. The flocks that once formed
during migration are now greatly reduced and the Lesser flamingos can be found in
almost every sub-saharan African country and along the Arabian Peninsula during
the non-breeding season. But 75% of the global population and nearly the entire
African population breeds in Lake Natron in Tanzania. Disturbances to their specialized
habitats such as changes in water quality or water levels could have
potentially devastating consequences for the entire species Information from across the Flyway for
birds like the Curlew sandpiper the Lesser white-fronted goose, the
Sociable Lapwing, and the Lesser flamingos exists because of
international cooperation. This information is translated into action at
the local level where community members work together with people from
conservation and science to protect and sustainably manage individual sites. In
the African-Eurasian Flyway, AEWA joins these local and regional partnerships
with national governments and other stakeholders under an international
legal binding framework. The critical sites in the Flyway have been identified.
Information collected and made widely available, like the data for these places
means that countries can detect and manage issues at specific sites in a
species lifecycle. With this coordination, birds and their environments have the best chance of being
protected across the flyway. Southeast England, October. More than
60,000 Red-knot spend the winter at a site known as "The Wash" after finishing
their breeding seasons in Canada and Greenland. The juveniles and adults feed
alongside Eurasian oyster catchers in the shallow waters. Prior to their
arrival in England a number of these birds stopped in the Warden Sea World
Heritage Site, off the coast of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. There they joined other Red-knots, some of which had arrived from the Russian
Arctic. The sea the largest system of tidal flats in the world is a critical
site for at least 40 different species of water birds. Red-knots chased the tide;
the mud here is filled with small shellfish that the birds consume. Many
Red-knots will winter here. Those from the Russian Arctic will fatten up to
prepare for the journey to the Banc d'Arguin in Mauritania and the Bijagós
Archipelago off the coast of Guinea Bissau. The roughly 88 islands and islets
of this UNESCO biosphere reserve are home to a mix of habitats, including
forests, savannas, mangroves, and intertidal zones. Red-knots join 94 other species of water
birds at a place that has been protected by the local community and conservation
organizations. Together they are ensuring the land remains as productive for
wildlife and humans as it has for thousands of years. Water birds including
Red Knots have evolved over millions of years to navigate the hemispheres and to
traverse them in unimaginable feats of endurance. They are not equipped to cope
with rapid change but they will remain safe in places like the Bijagós
Archipelago so long as these sites remain actively protected by people. The recent decline of water birds means
that our shared ecosystems are struggling and because our water, our air,
and our birds are not bound by borders, International Cooperation– a Flyway wide
approach, is needed to create conservation actions that will conserve
our wetlands and our birds. Providing healthy sites for birds means preserving
and clean food, clean air, and fresh water for the communities that live nearby.
Countries and cultures along the African Eurasian Flyway share a common
responsibility to care for the sites that we and migrating birds need to
thrive. Please join ongoing efforts to ensure
the continued protection of our water birds and the stepping stones we all
call home.
