5 November 2014: Participants gathered at the margins of the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP11) for a side-event on the conservation of African-Eurasian migratory landbirds.

The event was organized by BirdLife International, Vogelbescherming Nederland (VBN)-BirdLife in The Netherlands, and The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)-BirdLife in the UK.

Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, Ghana, moderated the session. Oliver Biber, Switzerland, described the recently agreed non-binding African-Eurasian Migratory Landbird Action Plan (AEMLAP), stressing that it will not have budgetary implications on the Convention. Samuel Temidayo Osinubi, BirdLife International, spoke on AEMLAP implementation tools including the Migrant Landbird Study Group geared to promote information sharing on migrant landbirds at a global level.

Franz Bairlein, Institute for Avian Research, drew attention to the European Bird Migration Atlas, which tracks the movements of birds from their breeding grounds in Europe to their winter destinations in Africa. Danaë Sheehan, RSPB, noted the goal of international species action plans is returning these species to a favorable conservation status through the development of relevant capacity and partnerships. Bernd de Bruijn, VBN, presented the work of the ‘Living on the Edge’ project, which takes a landscape approach to addressing challenges facing both migratory landbirds and rural communities in the Sahel. Borja Heredia, CMS, lauded the AEMLAP, stressing that it is driven by both Africa and Europe. [IISD RS coverage of CMS COP11]