CMS is pleased to announce the recent launch of the Ferruginous Duck Conservation Team (FDCT) web site. The initiative is part of a more comprehensive project jointly supported by CMS and AEWA. The BirdLife International-European Division Office and the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), the BirdLife partner in Bulgaria, co-ordinated the project with the participation of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT). Field surveys for the species in Bulgaria and the convening of an international workshop on the Ferruginous duck are part of the project. A network of experts will be established and an updated report on the status of the species and of a comprehensive Action Plan covering the whole range of the species is underway.

The FDCT was established as a follow-up to the Workshop “Ferruginous duck: from research to conservation” held in October 2002 in Sofia (Bulgaria) under the auspices CMS and AEWA. The participants to the workshop constitute the core of the team. The Proceedings of the workshop are currently being published, and are expected to be available soon for downloading on the FDCT web site. The FDCT is co-ordinated by BSPB, which also administers the web site.

The Ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca) is included in both CMS Appendix I and II, and was designated for Concerted Action under the Convention by the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Cape Town, Nov. 1999). The species is also covered, for the major part of its range, under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), an Agreement concluded under CMS auspices.

For more information please visit the FDCT web site: http://www.bspb.org/nyroca/