20 September 2008: The fourth Meeting of the Parties (MOP)
to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) took place from 15-19
September 2008, in Antananarivo, Madagascar. With regard to climate change, the
meeting adopted a resolution on climate change and migratory waterbirds, as
well as conservation guidelines on measures needed to help waterbirds adapt to
climate change.

In the resolution on climate change and migratory waterbirds,
the MOP calls upon contracting parties to develop and strengthen climate
change-related research, monitoring and conservation action for waterbirds, and
to focus future research on possible means of adaptation. The resolution
instructs the Secretariat to assist in gathering and disseminating knowledge
and expertise on climate-related waterbird research, and requests the AEWA
Technical Committee to identify further research priorities that will inform
future adaptation measures and to assess whether the existing international
networks of sites are sufficient for the protection of migratory waterbirds.
The resolution further urges contracting parties to: designate and establish
comprehensive and coherent networks of adequately managed protected and other
sites; maintain the ecological character of sites important for waterbird
populations under climate change conditions through appropriate management
measures; and provide wider habitat protection with dispersed breeding ranges,
migration routes or winter ranges where the site conservation approach would
have little effect, especially under climate change.
The conservation guideline
on measures needed to help waterbirds adapt to climate change includes concrete
measures under the following steps, namely: identifying parties to be involved
in implementing species-based, site-based, regional, national and international
measures to help birds adapt to climate change; identifying species and
populations most at risk from climate change and identifying priority measures;
preparing priority lists of key sites most at risk from climate change and
identifying priority adaptation measures; preparing priority lists of key
regional, national and international measures for helping birds adapt to
climate change; and implementing climate change adaptation management measures.
[IISD RS coverage of AEWA MOP-4]
[Meeting
documents]