The BirdLife International UNDP/GEF Migratory Soaring Birds project to celebrate the World Migratory Bird Day in 6 countries along the Rift Valley/Red Sea flyway!

Date: 12-13 May 2012
Location: Rift Valley/Red Sea Region

On May 12th and 13th, the BirdLife International UNDP/GEF Migratory Soaring Birds project will rally up and join the long list of events from around the globe that will celebrate the World Migratory Bird Day 2012!

The celebratory events that will take place, under the umbrella of the Migratory Soaring Birds project, in Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Palestine, Sudan and Syria will gather hundreds of participants from the hunting, energy, waste management, agriculture, and tourism sector as well as local communities ready to learn about and celebrate the wonder of migration. Each event will be organized by the project national partners in their respective countries. This year’s theme is “Migratory Birds and people together through time” and is meant to raise awareness and emphasize on the cultural, economic and environmental connection with migratory birds throughout history.

The Rift Valley/Red Sea flyway that comprises the 6 participating countries is the second most important flyway for migratory soaring birds (raptors, storks, pelicans and some ibis) in the world, with over 1.5 million birds of 37 species, including 5 globally threatened species. Populations of many globally threatened and vulnerable migratory soaring birds are threatened by anthropogenic activities during their seasonal migrations along the flyway.

The Migratory Soaring Birds Project’s objective is to make the Rift Valley / Red Sea flyway a safer route for migratory soaring birds and thereby maintaining globally threatened and significant populations of soaring birds. To achieve this objective the project pilots a new, innovative and cost-effective UNDP-GEF approach, termed “double-mainstreaming”, that seeks to integrate flyway issues into existing or planned development projects and processes, “vehicles” of reform or change management in key productive sectors (hunting, energy, waste management, agriculture, and tourism) through the provision of technical tools, content, support and promote sharing of lessons learnt.

World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is a global awareness campaign held annually to promote the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats worldwide. It was initiated in 2006 by the Secretariats of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS, also known as the Bonn Convention) and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), two international treaties on migratory wildlife under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Issued by: BirdLife International, Migratory Soaring Birds Project

For further information kindly visit:
http://www.birdlife.org/migratorysoaringbirds