PROTECT MIGRATORY BIRDS - CONSERVATIONISTS (P.28) 17-12-07

Story: Kofi Yeboah
MIGRATORY bird conservationists from Africa and other parts of the world are meeting in Accra to discuss ways of enhancing the protection of migratory birds.
The meeting, under the joint auspices of BirdLife International and Wetlands International, both international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), is being hosted by the Ghana Wildlife Society.
It is organised under the framework of the Flyways Conservation and “Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Projects, and sponsored by the Global Environment Facility of the United Nations Environment Programme and the German government.
The Flyways Conservation Project, entitled “Supporting the growth and development of BirdLife programmes for global flyways conservation with special focus on West Africa”, is a three-year project (2006 - 2009) aimed at developing a flyway conservation approach as an additional mechanism for the conservation of birds around the world.
The WOW Project, on the other hand, is a four-year project, which began in 2006, and is aimed at improving the conservation of migratory water birds within the framework of the African Euroasian Water bird Agreement (AEWA) by assisting countries to take measures to conserve critical sites that water birds require to complete their annual cycle.
Thousands of migratory water birds travel annually from Europe around this time on flyways between Western Europe, North Africa, West Africa and South Africa, and in the course of their journey, they face hostilities from humans and other birds.
The Global Important Birds Area Co-ordinator of BirdLife International, Dr Lincoln Fishpool, underlined the need to protect water birds because their population had been decreasing.
He called for greater commitment from African government towards adopting initiatives to protect water birds.
The Senior Biodiversity Officer of Wetlands International, Mr Szabolcs Nagy, the workshop sought to encourage governments to identify the most critical areas of conserving water birds.