The 18th meeting of the Technical Committee to the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) took place between 14 and 16 March in Bonn, Germany. As the first meeting of the three-year inter-sessional period between two AEWA Meetings of the Parties, the meeting focused on the planning of the work of the AEWA Technical Committee.
The meeting has decided on changing the population definitions for the East African population of Maccoa Duck, Eurasian populations of the Tundra Swan, the Glossy Ibis, the European Shag, the Bar-tailed Godwit, and the Baltic population of the Caspian Tern, and the priorities for action and management planning in the next period prepared by the staff of Wetlands International Europe.
The meeting has also approved a series of Terms of References related to various works guiding the sustainable use of waterbirds.
During the next triennium, Wetlands International Europe will also work on further population definitions, preparing the proposal for the changing of the classification of waterbird populations in Table 1 of the Agreement, which determines the conservation measures to be applied by Parties, will contribute to the development of guidance on Favourable Reference Values for birds in the context of AEWA and the EU Birds Directive, rethinking how to provide conservation and management guidance, assessing the submissions to the AEWA Flyway Site Network, rolling out the AEWA site monitoring framework, assessing the impact of sea-level rise on waterbird habitats, the review of the implementation of species action plans, review of the AEWA guidance on site inventories.