On 2 August the team of the Fundación Global Nature, one of the Spanish members of Wetlands International Europe, captured the first Aquatic Warbler on autumn migration for this year in the Boada lagoon in the Palencia province NW Spain.
The Aquatic Warbler is a tiny passerine species breeding in marshes of Eastern Europe and migrates along the Atlantic coasts from its European breeding grounds to their wintering areas in West Africa and returns along the Mediterranean coast in spring. It is globally vulnerable because of its small and severely fragmented distribution which keeps declining.
In the framework of the LIFE Paludicola project, Foundacion Global Nature and its partners took action at 9 Iberian wetlands to improve habitat conditions. Besides on-the-ground conservation actions, they have also advocated for the inclusion of the species into the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species, the scientific review of the status of the species in Spain, the drafting of the national strategy for the conservation of the species, and the development of a proposal for agri-environmental measures.
In the coming years, Wetlands International Europe will work with Fundacion Global Nature on expanding the network of safe stop-over sites in Europe. In the autumn we are planning to organise a meeting of the managers of stop-over sites and develop joint actions.
For further information on the Aquatic Warbler ringing, please contact David Miguélez ([email protected]).
To support these activities Wetlands International Europe is looking for an intern.
Photo by Fundación Global Nature.