Un mal momento para las aves acuáticas

La cuarta reunión de la AEWA (African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement), que se inaugura hoy en Madagascar, comienza con esta alerta: un estudio demuestra un acusado descenso de las poblaciones de aves acuáticas que utilizan el corredor migratorio euro-africano. En inglés:

Populations of migratory waterbirds are declining along the African-Eurasian Flyways

A study showing declines of 41 per cent of migratory waterbird populations along their main migration routes in Africa and Eurasia is presented to the Fourth Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP4) in Antananarivo, Madagascar this week (15-19 September 2008).

Antananarivo, 15 September 2008 – The report: “Conservation Status of Migratory Waterbirds in the African-Eurasian Flyways” prepared by Wetlands International for the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) is being presented to delegates from over 80 countries attending an intergovernmental meeting which began in Antananarivo today.

The study reveals that 41 % of the known trends for 522 migratory waterbird populations on the routes across Africa and Eurasia show decreasing trends. The situation is even worse for waterbirds using Western and Central Asian Flyways, where 55 % of populations with known trends are currently declining.
The decline in numbers is being recorded for many species along African-Eurasian Flyways, in regions used for breeding, migration and wintering by these birds across the African and Eurasian Continents.

Simon Delany, Waterbird Conservation Officer at the Netherlands-based Headquarters of Wetlands International and principal author of the report, said: “The main causes of declining waterbird numbers along the African-Eurasian Flyways are the destruction and unsustainable exploitation of wetlands, which are largely driven by poorly-planned economic development.”

La nota de prensa, completa, aquí.

ACTUALIZACIÓN: Y el informe completo, de 253 páginas, aquí.