News

This year World Migratory Bird Day focuses on the intricate relationship between birds and insects. Amidst the vast landscape of the Wadden Sea, migratory birds find refuge and food to sustain them during their arduous journeys. Insects often play a central role in the diet of many songbirds, but also waterbirds rely on this rich source of protein. One example of this is observed on the German island of Mellum, where black-headed gulls feed on ants during their nuptial flights.

Who has not seen the picture of the East Atlantic Flyway of shorebirds in one of the numerous information centres in the Wadden Sea? From the Wadden Sea as the central hub, the long migratory routes extend to the Arctic breeding grounds of north-eastern Canada, Greenland, Svalbard and northern Siberia. Southwards to the wintering grounds, the lines extend along the West African coast to the West Coast National Park in South Africa. 

The 3rd East Atlantic Flyway Youth Forum (EAFYF 2023) was concluded on 10 September 2023, after two days of intensive training and collaborative work. More than 40 young adults, aged 18-30, from different countries along the East Atlantic Flyway, gathered to enhance their conservation skills, with a central focus on harnessing the power of 'Conservation Storytelling’ as a vital tool for effective stakeholder engagement in conservation efforts.

In the beginning of 2023, a large outbreak of Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 (HPAI) – or avian flu – was documented in West Africa. In The Gambia, more than 7,500 waterbirds have died around coastal nature reserves. In response, the Gambian government approached the Rapid Expert Group on Health (SEEG), funded by the German government. In the beginning of September, a deployment that included the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative addressed both the current outbreak and prepare for potential future occurrences.

Effective communication is key when working with stakeholders from different backgrounds. It is imperative to understand each other’s perspectives to reach a consensus on how best to implement sustainable solutions. But how do we communicate effectively? This is the focus at this year’s East Atlantic Flyway Youth Forum (EAFYF) on ‘Conservation Storytelling’, held online, 9-10 September 2023, organised by the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Migratory Birds for People, and Youth Engaged in Wetlands. Registration to participate is now open.

Once every three years, migratory birds at all important wintering areas along the Atlantic coast, from Norway to South-Africa, are being counted. In January 2023, the fourth total count of the East Atlantic Flyway was organized by the WSFI. Organizations from 37 countries participated with one goal: to determine changes in numbers of waterbirds which spend considerable time of their lives in the Wadden Sea. An impression from three of the counted areas:

As migratory birds are returning from their southern wintering grounds to their breeding sites in the Wadden Sea, in view of the experience in 2022, researchers and site managers are concerned about new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in colonially breeding birds. Ample discussions have been held over the past months regarding measures that may help to prevent or mitigate future outbreaks.

The scale of the outbreak of the bird flu, more specifically the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), in the North Sea region in the breeding season of 2022 was unprecedented. In the transboundary Wadden Sea, substantial losses were recorded especially for sandwich terns. But also, common terns and black-headed gulls were affected. It is currently not possible to predict what will happen during the next breeding season.

Each January, counts of migratory waterbirds take place in all key wetland sites along the East Atlantic Flyway. The year 2023 represents the 4th time that these efforts are intensified to cover major wetland sites in almost all countries belonging to this flyway, therefore being called ‘total counts’. Through the collaborative efforts of BirdLife International, Wetlands International, and Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative, and coordinated by Sovon, simultaneous counts will take place in 21 African and 18 European countries along the East Atlantic Flyway in the next days.

In 2022, empowering the youth to take action in conservation has been a key focus of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, with activities not only in the Wadden Sea, but also on the global scale. Encouraged by the experience at the first East Atlantic Flyway Youth Forum (EAFYF) held in 2021, the organising team from Youth Engaged in Wetlands, the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, and the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative organised a fundraising training for EAFYF 2022, building on the outcomes of the first forum.

The Wadden Sea is one of the most important breeding, stopover, and wintering sites along the East Atlantic Flyway, visited by millions of migratory waterbirds each year. Monitoring and management efforts, aiding the conservation of waterbirds, have been ongoing since the 1980s. However, flyway conservation can only be effective if the bird populations find suitable conditions over their entire migration range.

"Dim the light for birds at night!" is the slogan of World Migratory Bird Day 2022 (WMBD). The aim of this year's campaign is to highlight the negative impact that Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) can have on many nocturnally migrating bird species. The artificial glow seems to disturb the internal system birds use to navigate during the night and causes them to stray from their normal migration routes.

“Strengthening Flyway Conservation in a Changing World” is the official slogan of the 8th Meeting of Parties of the African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) which is currently taking place in Budapest. More than 150 delegates and observers from Africa and Europe have come together to make decisions regarding the implementation of the Agreement, for the benefit of migratory waterbirds along the African-Eurasian Flyways.