An
international meeting was held in Minsk, Belarus, from 29
to 30 April 2003, to negotiate and adopt a “Memorandum
of Understanding and Action Plan Concerning Conservation Measures
for the Aquatic Warbler” under the auspices of the Convention
on Migratory Species. Conservationists see this as a huge
milestone in the protection of this globally threatened bird
and its habitat.
What connects Dakar, Senegal in West Africa with Minsk,
Belarus? Why have representatives of governments and non-governmental
organisations in 13 European and African countries been
meeting in Minsk? The answer - a little brown bird, migrating
up to twelve thousand kilometres from Eastern Europe to
sub-saharan Africa.
This bird is a “star” species of Belarus:
the globally threatened Aquatic Warbler. Over half of
the world population of this species is breeding and spending
part of the year in the marshes and fen mires of Belarus.
The Aquatic Warbler is also an important component of
global biological diversity which is, and will remain,
the living basis for humans. It is an alarming indicator
for the state of the environment of a vast area covering
two continents, since the number of birds and their habitats
have been shrinking in recent decades.
The two-day meeting was hosted and chaired by the Belarussian
Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection,
Leonty I. Khoruzhik, in cooperation with the CMS Secretariat,
BirdLife International, Achova Ptushak Belarusi (the BirdLife
International Partner in Belarus), the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds (UK) and the United Nations Development
Programme. The meeting finalised a formal Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU), which was signed by delegates on
Wednesday.
The MoU expresses countries’ intentions to identify,
protect and manage sites where Aquatic Warblers breed
(central Europe and Western Siberia), rest on migration
(western Europe) or spend the winter (central west Africa).
Annexed to the Memorandum is a detailed Action Plan which
summarises the distribution, biology and threat status
of the Aquatic Warbler, and describes precise actions
to be taken by relevant countries.
“Belarus, for instance”, Minister Khoruzhik
stressed, ”is going to restore 720,000 hectares
of drained peatlands, and thus to regain a lost homeland
of the Aquatic Warbler and the wonderful natural environment
represented by this small bird”.
Others expressed great satisfaction with the conclusion
of the MoU. Norbert Schaffer of BirdLife International
said “The level of agreement was exactly what we
hoped to achieve, for the benefit of this species and
its habitat”. Arnulf Muller-Helmbrecht, CMS Executive
Secretary, agreed: “This very successful event represents
a positive example of the voluntary commitment of many
countries to act together for coordinated conservation,
and an example of cooperation between governmental and
non-governmental organisations. I congratulate the Republic
of Belarus on the strong leadership it has given to these
joint efforts.”
Released by
Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species
BirdLife International
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection
of the Republic of Belarus
|
