23 November 2010: The African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) and RWE Rhein-Ruhr Netzservice signed a cooperation agreement to support an independent review and the development of guidelines for mitigating, and avoiding the conflict between migratory birds and electricity power grids in the African-Eurasian region.

The signing ceremony took place on 23 November 2010, on the margins of the 37th Meeting of the Standing Committee to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), held in Bonn, Germany, from 23-24 November 2010. Commenting on the cooperation agreement, Bert Lenten, the Executive Secretary of AEWA and Acting Deputy Executive Secretary of CMS, expressed the hope that the review and guidelines “will provide a practical overview of the various solutions and guidance available on mitigating and avoiding the electrocution and collision of migratory birds in the AEWA region and beyond.” Although a number of countries have already passed specific legislation on protecting birds from fatalities on the electricity power grid, the magnitude of the bird-power grid conflict is still poorly understood on the larger scale of the African-Eurasian region. [UNEP-AEWA Press Release]