Poster: Population trends for coastal migratory waterbirds in the East Atlantic Flyway

At least 12 million waterbirds use the East-Atlantic Flyway and migrate yearly between the Artic, Europe and Africa. The majority of these birds rely for their survival on a limited number of key sites in coastal areas, such as the Wadden Sea in Europe and the Banc d’Arguin and Archipelago dos Bijagòs in West Africa. The pressure on these sites – and therefore on the birds - is increasing. Reliable population estimates and trends are needed to guide conservation action, both at the site level and for the flyway as a whole.

As part of a broader initiative to strengthen the conservation of migratory waterbirds, the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative and the Conservation of Migratory Birds project are improving the monitoring of waterbirds in especially the coastal zone of West Africa.