November 2007

Conserving Flyway Wetlands

for Migratory Waterbirds

Because of the destruction and disturbance of key wetlands throughout Asia, many species of migratory waterbirds are in serious decline. The situation is extremely precarious for the critically endangered Siberian Crane, which depends entirely on a series of wetlands along transboundary flyways in China, Iran, Russian Federation, and Kazakhstan, stretching over thousands of kilometres in length. This situation requires urgent conservation measures and international collaboration, especially since other globally threatened and rare species also depend on the same wetlands.

The four governments involved recognize the importance of their countries’ wetland biodiversity and have made commitments under international conventions and agreements to conserve wetlands of international importance and to protect threatened waterbird species. However, additional technical and financial assistance is needed to strengthen capacity in these countries to achieve flyway-wide conservation goals and to foster international collaboration.

A GEF-UNEP project is addressing threats to 16 wetlands of international importance in the four countries by undertaking measures specific to each site to sustain their ecological integrity. At the national level, the project is working to in each country: strengthen legislative, policy, and planning frameworks for wetland and waterbird conservation; strengthen capacity for international cooperation; and initiate activities that support site conservation, such as water management, monitoring, training, education, and public awareness programs. At the international level, the project is building capacity for the coordination of networks of wetlands along the West/Central and East Asian flyways for migratory waterbirds.

The project is a prime example in the UNEP GEF-sponsored biodiversity portfolio of promoting regional cooperation and supporting on-site investments. Its integrated ecosystem management approaches are benefiting local resource users, as well as the production sectors that depend on a stable wetland environment and its associated ecosystem services, such as potable water, flood mitigation, and wildlife cropping through controlled bird hunting.

Achievements so far include the creation, expansion, or upgrading of protected areas in all four countries, and the designation of Ramsar Sites and flyway network sites. At the regional level, enhanced conservation of wetlands and waterbirds, and sustainable wetland management and utilization have been achieved through supporting the formulation and implementation of biennial conservation plans under the Convention on Migratory Species agreement on the Siberian Crane. As such, the Siberian Crane acts as a flagship species benefiting the wider ecosystem services of the wetlands that are its habitat. Long-term institutional capacity is also being built to handle the development and coordination of flyway programs at many levels, coordinated through the flyway conservation office in Moscow.