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 ...
's
Convention on Migratory Species.
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
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 ...
.
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.
See also
*
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...
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
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Treaties extended to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Environmental treaties