The Association “Les Amis des Oiseaux” AAO/BirdLife in Tunisia completed the international count of wintering waterbirds (IWC 2022) in Tunisia on 31 January 2022. This year a training course on waterbird and census coordinated by the Research Institute for the Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands (Tour du Valat) and AAO/BirdLife in Tunisia took place 20-31 January and allowed 10 participants from Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia to improve their knowledge thanks to the funding from the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE), the French Development Agency (AFD), the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), the TOTAL Foundation, the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) and the WWF AFN.
One of the most remarkable sightings this year was on 14 January 2022 at Sebkhet Sejoumi, where more than 2,200 White-headed Duck and more than 540 Marbled Teal were counted. For the wintering season, these are the highest numbers ever recorded for this Important Bird Areas (IBAs) , Ramsar site, Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) and the 4th most important wintering wetland for waterbirds in North Africa.
For more information:
Hichem AZAFZAF (AAO/BirdLife in Tunisia) [email protected] or Laura DAMI (TDV) [email protected]