WSFI Steering Group

Peter Südbeck (Chair), Head of the Nationalpark administration, Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park (NLPVW), GER

"Bird conservation is highly prioritized in his work with research, monitoring, protection projects, and communication like the migratory bird-days. As a Biologist with an ornithological focus, he formerly chaired the Lower Saxon bird conservation unit with a focus on bird monitoring, Natura2000-implementation, bird conservation research as well as political and public advice in terms of bird conservation. The Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative is a major step to focus conservation activities in favor of migratory birds coming to the Wadden Sea and living in a wide area between the Arctic and African wintering sites. A huge network of partners could be built and joint activities have been implemented jointly bringing worldwide responsibility of migratory Wadden sea bird conservation into action. "

Kristine Meise (Secretary), Programme Officer Biodiversity and Flyway, Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS)

"Migratory waterbirds know no borders. During their annual journey they visit a multitude of local wetlands while travelling from their wintering sites in the south to their breeding grounds in the north. The Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative collaborates with governments, nature and community organisations and individuals from countries along the East Atlantic Flyway. Each partner is playing an important role to ensure that monitoring, effective management or awareness raising is taking place, thus contributing to the protection of migratory waterbirds. I am looking forward to intensifying the collaborations with these dedicated partners over the next years."

Thomas Borchers, Deputy Head of Division Marine Nature Protection, Federal Ministry for the Environment,  Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection (BMUV), GER

"With the inscription of the Wadden Sea on the World Heritage List the three Wadden Sea States have taken on a global responsibility for the conservation of migratory birds, especially along the East Atlantic Flyway. The Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative (WSFI) has been launched to make this a reality. This cooperation of different partners and initiatives actors from science, civil society, and administration in the WSFI all along the Flyway from the Arctic down to Africa reflects this commitment in a special way. I am proud to be part of this cooperation and to contribute to the further development of the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative to secure the Wadden Sea World Heritage as a hub for the East Atlantic Flyway."

Geoffroy Citegetse, East Atlantic Flyway Initiative Manager, BirdLife International-Dakar, Senegal

"With nearly 20 years of experience in conservation in Africa, I have been working with national NGOs in West Africa for the last past 10 years to support the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats, building partnerships with local NGOs, government institutions, international NGOs, and Multilateral Environmental Agreements for the conservation of migratory birds. I coordinate the conservation of the East Atlantic Flyway in Africa.  I am keen on community involvement in wetland management, its empowerment, and the integration of biodiversity into plans and programmes for sustainable natural resource management.

I am delighted to be a member of the WSFI Steering Group which brings since its creation an added value to the partnership along the East Atlantic Flyway, and I am willing to continue to support the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative for the achievement of its noble mission."

Nicola Crockford, International Species Policy Officer, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), UK

 "The WSFI is incredibly important and pioneering, not only within the East Atlantic Flyway, where it is the first initiative really supporting governments and other stakeholders to implement the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) on the ground at a network of key sites, but also at global level. It is the first – hopefully of several – flyway initiatives catalysed by the World Heritage Listing of a site of Outstanding Universal Value for its migratory bird populations. BirdLife International, of which RSPB is part of, hopes that each of the world’s nine flyways will eventually have comparable networks of sites and initiatives that build on the WSFI experience."

Jaime Garcia Moreno, Senior International Conservation Officer, Vogelbescherming Nederland (VBN, Birdlife NL), NL

"The WSFI is the result of three of the most important, rich and environmentally minded governments in the world realising that just the three of them is not enough; that to guarantee migratory birds a safe haven at any time during their life cycle requires collaboration far beyond the Wadden Sea. The recognition of its connectivity with other sites along the flyway, and use of its World Heritage denomination to work together with other such sites. And the support of these three influential governments to link other governments and stakeholders together and with conventions and other frameworks in order to advance the WSFI vision agreed in Tønder."

Karst Jarsma, Policy officer Trilateral Cooperation in the Wadden Sea, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), NL

"My name is Karst Jaarsma. I work for the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality in the Netherlands. My policy expertise lies on the Wadden Sea with a specific focus on the trilateral cooperation. It is important to see the Wadden Sea as an integral part of its global ecological function. Due to its important role in the Flyway network, the Wadden Sea is considered a UNESCO World Heritage. In order to keep the full flyway healthy, it is crucial to take a global perspective. That is why it is important to participate in the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative."

Henrik Pind Jørgensen, Chief Consultant and National coordinator of the Danish part of The Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation, Danish Environmental Protection Agency (MST), DK

"It is an honor to be part of an effort to protect and restore one of the globally most important flyways for migratory birds, The East Atlantic Flyway, and, not least, a joy to watch the achieved objectives. 

These manifest themselves both in creating a credible timeline-overview of the status of the many species that use the migratory route as well as the transfer of knowledge and emerging results of numerous specific habitat projects to secure and restore the bird habitats.

Further, it is an undivided joy to be able to successfully facilitate the cooperation of a huge number of volunteers and also semi-professionals, professionals, and scientists all working together from the Southern part of Africa to The Arctic."

Courtney Price, Global Coordinator, Arctic Migratory Bird Initiative (AMBI), Canada

"The Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative is important because it connects scientific and conservation activities along entire migratory pathways- from the Arctic to Africa- to encourage coordinated action and information sharing to support populations of migratory birds, many of which are experiencing a decline. It is an honor to work with such esteemed colleagues along this important migratory route to support each others' efforts and unite for a common purpose."

Ward Hagemeijer,  Senior Adviser, Wetlands International Global Office, NL

"The conservation of migratory waterbirds and the wetland sites they depend upon in landscapes shared with millions of people, is a daunting and at the same time very inspiring challenge. The African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) provides a good context and is leading in Flyway Conservation worldwide. Within that, the WSFI, focussing on the East Atlantic Flyway from the perspective of the Trilateral Wadden Sea World Heritage Site provides a good model for collaboration between many stakeholders for the implementation of the Flyway Approach. Representing Wetlands International, I seek to contribute many years of experience in Flyway thinking and waterbird monitoring and conservation to making this flyway initiative a leading success-example, worldwide"

Advisors:

Tim Dodman, Consultant, WSFI Capacity Building and Management Programme

"I’ve been involved in the WSFI since its inception in 2012, mainly in coordinating capacity-building and management activities along the Atlantic coast of Africa. This involves developing the network and establishing a range of projects to strengthen the East Atlantic Flyway for waterbirds and people. I also worked on producing the East Atlantic Flyway Guide, a trilingual field guide to the waterbirds of Africa’s Atlantic coastline (distributed freely to partners in Africa). The WSFI is a great initiative for the flyway, and I look forward to its further development and positive impacts in the future."

Marc van Roomen, Sovon Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, WSFI Monitoring Programme

“The work along the flyway brings together many different persons, countries, and cultures, however, we share the same passion for the coastal sites and their natural values and we are amazed that the same individual birds can turn up from the far North to the far South along the flyway and we feel a shared responsibility for them. I am feeling privileged that by coordinating this monitoring we can contribute to better conservation of these birds and their sites”.