AWOM – A new LIFE project starts to save the Aquatic Warblers by restoring wetlands
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AWOM
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Biodiversity - Flyways
PRESS RELEASE – Madrid, 21st May 2025
Coinciding with the Natura 2000 Day, the project LIFE AWOM kicks off to protect the Aquatic Warbler and its habitats along its migratory route. Objective: restoring key wetlands for the Aquatic Warbler along its migration journey and enable this globally threatened species to survive.
On May 21 and 22, the launch event of the LIFE AWOM (Aquatic Warblers on the Move) project was held in Madrid. The project coordinates international efforts to improve the conservation status of the Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola), the most threatened passerine bird in continental Europe.
“Aquatic Warblers on the Move” refers to the more than 6,000 kilometer migratory journey undertaken by this tiny bird, weighing barely 10 grams — less than a teaspoon — with an astonishing endurance capacity. Each year, it migrates from its breeding grounds in Central and Eastern Europe to its wintering areas in sub-Saharan Africa, relying on a network of wetlands where it can stop to rest and feed.
Protecting the Aquatic Warbler requires more than conserving its points of origin or destination: it involves maintaining the health of the intermediate ecosystems along its migratory route. For this reason, the LIFE AWOM project, co-financed by the European Union’s LIFE programme, brings together partners from Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain, and Senegal with the shared goal of identifying, restoring, and conserving the most important wetlands for the species along its migratory route.
The project will take action in 20 priority sites, most of them part of the Natura 2000 Network, through ecological restoration, scientific monitoring, technical training, and policy action. Additionally, LIFE AWOM aims to integrate its measures into national nature restoration plans, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and climate change adaptation strategies. Each participating country will also develop specific action plans for the Aquatic Warbler and update key data on the status of its habitats.
The launch event in Madrid brought together representatives from public administrations, conservation organisations, research centers, and international networks. The sessions served to align objectives among partners, share technical expertise, and highlight the importance of transnational collaboration along the entire migratory corridor.
This is one of the most extensive efforts carried out to date for this species’ migration flyway. The LIFE AWOM project, supported by the European Union’s LIFE financial instrument, is the result of collaboration among various nature conservation entities spanning much of the Aquatic Warbler’s migratory route—from Senegal to Central Europe—in a collective commitment to conserving this species.
The 14 organisations participating in the project are Association ACROLA, Bretagne Vivante, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Fundación Global Nature, Fundacion Migres, Groupe Ornithologique Normand, Institut Català d’Ornitologia, Maison de l’Estuaire, Natuurpunt, Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves, Tour du Valat, Universidade de Aveiro, Wetlands International Africa and Wetlands International Europe.
For any queries, please contact: Amélie TAGU: [email protected]
