A habitat worth protecting for migratory birds

Protecting wetlands and retaining flight routes: These are the core objectives of an IKI project that is building a network of migratory bird sanctuaries along the African-Eurasian flight route.

Every year, millions of water birds fly from Europe to Africa and back in search of food and suitable breeding grounds. To reach their destinations during their migration, however, they need intact wetlands where they can rest and feed. International Climate Initiative (IKI) is supporting the conservation and restoration of wetlands in Ethiopia and Mali along the African-Eurasian flight route. The goal is to create a network of protected areas.

This will not only help the birds, but local populations will also benefit from these sanctuaries, because intact ecosystems increase resistance to the impacts of climate change, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and create new sources of income as tourist attractions. To achieve its goals, the project is not only committed to integrating wetland protection into the policies of the countries, but also to using an integrative approach to involve all the stakeholders who have a special interest in the project areas in question, ranging from industry to local communities.

Through this work, the project is supporting the implementation of relevant resolutions in the international Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), which was adopted within the framework of the Bonn Convention on the Protection of Migratory Species. To further develop important frameworks and the practical implementation of existing resolutions in a targeted manner, the experience gained is shared with relevant organisations and parties to the AEWA, the Ramsar Convention (an international Convention on the protection of wetlands, in particular, habitats for waterfowl and waders), and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).