The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, or African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), is an independent international treaty developed under the auspices of the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

Background

The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds was drafted on 19 June 1995 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, Netherlands, in order to coordinate efforts to conserve bird species migrating between European and African nations.

Description

The AEWA is an independent treaty under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species, of the

. The agreement focuses on bird species that depend on

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s for at least part of their lifecycle and cross international borders in their migration patterns. As of 2023 it covered 255 species. As of July 2023, its scope covered territories in 119 Range States stretching from the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

to South Africa, encompassing the Canadian archipelago and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

as well as Europe and Africa.

Parties

Meetings

The parties meet every few years. As of the end of 2024, there have been eight Meetings of Parties (MoPs): * 7–9 November 1999 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa * 25–27 September 2002 in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, Germany * 23–27 October 2005 in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, Senegal * 15–19 September 2008 in

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

, Madagascar * 14–18 May 2012 in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

, France * 9–14 November 2015 in Bonn, Germany * 4–8 December 2018 in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa * 26-30 September 2022 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary

Treaties

Ban on lead shot

The use of lead shot over wetlands has been banned by the signatories to the convention on account of the

poisoning Poisoning is the harmful effect which occurs when Toxicity, toxic substances are introduced into the body. The term "poisoning" is a derivative of poison, a term describing any chemical substance that may harm or kill a living organism upon ...

it causes.

References

External links

* of AEWA * of Wings Over Wetlands (WOW) Project * of World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) * of CMS {{DEFAULTSORT:Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals Bird conservation Lead poisoning Treaties concluded in 1995 Treaties entered into force in 1999 1995 in the Netherlands 1999 in the environment Treaties of the Republic of the Congo Treaties of Egypt Treaties of the Gambia Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Niger Treaties of Senegal Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1985–2011) Treaties of Togo Treaties of Tanzania Treaties of Benin Treaties of Mali Treaties of Uganda Treaties of Mauritius Treaties of Kenya Treaties of South Africa Treaties of Equatorial Guinea Treaties of Djibouti Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Ghana Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of Ethiopia Treaties of Chad Treaties of Germany Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Monaco Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Finland Treaties of Bulgaria Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Romania Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Israel Treaties of Albania Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of Hungary Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of France Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Uzbekistan Treaties of Lithuania Treaties entered into by the European Union Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Belgium Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Italy Treaties of Norway Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Estonia Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Gibraltar Treaties extended to Guernsey Treaties extended to Jersey Treaties extended to the Isle of Man Treaties extended to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Environmental treaties