Status of migratory wader populations in Africa and Western Eurasia
In its rôle
as a global wader expert network for Wetlands International, the International
Wader Study Group undertakes the compilation and interpretation of wader
population estimates (although the responsibility for data collation from
the IWC resides with Wetlands International. WSG also acts as the Wader
Specialist Group for IUCN-The World Conservation Union's Species Survival
Commission.
For some years,
the WSG has been involved in re-evaluating population sizes and trends
of all species of migratory waders in Africa and Western Eurasia. To this
end, technical workshops were held in Belgium in 1996 and in Hungary in
1998 associated with the Group's annual conference.
The final results
(which assessed 131 populations of 55 species) were incorporated into
Wetlands International's third edition of Waterbird Population Estimates
- a publication that in November 2002 was launched at and endorsed by
the eighth Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention in Spain.
Ramsar COP8 urged governments and others to use these population data
and derived 1% thresholds for the identification of sites of international
importance. A fourth edition of WPE is due to be presented to Ramsar COP9
in 2005.
Breeding Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa islandica
(a population
that has increased in recent years); photo, Nigel Clark.
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