Luxemburg Signs Aquatic Warbler and Birds of Prey Memoranda of Understanding.

27.07.2010: On 19 July, the Luxembourg Minister Delegate for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, Marco Schank signed two CMS Memoranda of Understanding; one concerning conservation measures for the Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola), the rarest songbird in continental Europe, and the other for migratory birds of prey in Africa and Eurasia. More>>

Governmental protection of Europe’s most endangered songbird helps safeguard wetlands and ease greenhouse effect.

18.05.2010: Government officials from states across Europe and Africa as well as experts and conservationists came together in Biebrza National Park, Poland to discuss the survival of mainland Europe’s rarest songbird, the Aquatic Warbler. The UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) convened this meeting to enhance the future of this bird species managed and protected under the auspices of the CMS agreement on the Aquatic Warbler. More>>

The Second Meeting of the Signatory States.

20.04.2010: The Polish Government has kindly offered to host the Second Meeting of the Signatory States. The Meeting will take place in the Biebrza National Park, Poland, from 12-15 May 2010. The MoU meeting will be held in conjunction with a scientific conference on the Conservation of Aquatic Warblers organised by OTOP (BirdLife Poland) at the same venue from 11-12 May 2010. More>>

EU approved new International Aquatic Warbler Species Action Plan.

10.11.2009: The new International Species Action Plan for the Aquatic Warbler  (AW SAP) was placed for downloading on the EU Commission's website. More>>

Aquatic Warbler Colloquium in Sandy gathered experts from the RSPB and AWCT.

28.10.2009: Colloquium on scientific and strategic aspects of the conservation of Aquatic Warblers took place 15th October 2009 in the RSPB Headquarters, Sandy, UK. Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team members had a chance to discuss with relevant staff from the RSPB research and species conservation, the current situation of the highly threatened Pomeranian population as well as approaches to the identification of the species African wintering grounds. More>>

A new exceptional Aquatic Warbler breeding site has been discovered

in Southeast Poland!

17.09.2009: The site is located in Lublin area, SE Poland, in Bug river valley, just several kilometers SE of Dorohusk, at the border with Ukraine. The habitat was quite exceptional for AW, at least in comparison to the known sites in East Poland and Belarus. The meadows were completely dry, apart from former river oxbows, and the water table seemed to be at least 60 cm lower than the ground level - comparing with the water level in the oxbow lakes. Vegetation dominated by Alopecurus pratensis, as addition some Arrhenatherum, Gallium, Rannunculus, Cirsium and Rumex! More>>

Leucistic Aquatic Warbler was caught in France.

25.08.2009: Atypically pigmented Aquatic Warbler was caught at Trunvel ringing station, Brittany, west France. More>>

The analysis of the Aquatic Warbler wintering habitats is in progress.

23.06.2009: The research project “Habitat and threat assessment as a basis for the protection of the globally threatened Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola in its wintering grounds in the Djoudj National Park area, Senegal” is being realised by Cosima Tegetmeyer (diploma landscape ecologist. University of Greifswald, Germany) at the only current known Aquatic Warbler wintering site located in the Djoudj area in Senegal. A landscape-ecological analysis of the habitats is carried out in this PhD study. The aim is to identify key factors of habitat choice of the Aquatic Warbler in Africa. The results will further help to develop adequate management measures for preservation of designated Aquatic Warbler habitats and to eventually find further wintering grounds in Western Africa. More>>

Workshop for African Bird Experts took place at the Djoudj National Park.

09.03.2009: The idea to organise a workshop for African bird experts came up in September 2008 at Quimper in France, when AWCT members agreed that successful detection of the West African wintering grounds of the Aquatic Warbler and their protection can not be achieved without the help of local experts of the respective countries. It was intended to make local adepts familiar with the Aquatic Warbler, the whole topic of European protection efforts and, above all, the wintering habitat with its characteristic water regime and vegetation structure. More>>

Aquatic Warbler feathers will help to discover more wintering grounds!

05.03.2009: The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB, the BirdLife International Partner in the UK) is pushing forward an important piece of research to support the identification of wintering sites of the Aquatic Warbler in Africa. The analysis of stable isotopes found in the feathers of adult Aquatic Warblers, grown in the African wintering grounds, in the past help to narrow down the search area for the species’ wintering sites to the area between 12 and 20°N. More>>

Winter mowing started in Sporava mire this January.

30.01.2009: The works were executed as an extension of the project “Conservation of open fen mires in Sporauski reserve” The project was initiated by APB-BirdLife Belarus in partnership with Belarusian biological reserve “Sporauski” in 2006 and was kindly supported by GEF Small Grants Programme. 30 hectares of the mire were cleaned from old vegetation this January. More>>

Important meeting on the future of Pripyat river was held last week in Ukraine.

30.10.2008: The meeting of the steering group on the question of Pripyat river bed deepening took place on 27th of October in Liubeshiv, Ukraine. This group was set up by the National Security Council of Ukraine as a result of USPB (BirdLife-Ukraine) lobbing campaign. The representatives of Ministry of environment, local legislative and executive authorities, Volyn regional department of water management (interested in river deepening), national park and scientists became members of the group. More>>

Aquatic Warbler stars on the radio!

01.10.2008: The Aquatic Warbler piece featured in a very popular series on BBC4 radio, the most important talk radio in the UK. The series is called "world on the move" and talks about the big migrations that animals on our planet do. More>>

The conference “Conservation of the Migratory Stopover Points for the Aquatic Warbler”

at Quimper, France from 11st to 13rd September 2008.

23.09.2008: The long-expected event successfully took place in a scenic town of Quimper in North-West France. More than 60 participants including decision makers came to the conference from 10 European and African countries. The seminar was organized by Bretagne Vivante under the LIFE-Natura progamme “Conservation of the Aquatic Warbler in Brittany” with the kind support of European Commission, Medad, Finistere General Council, Town of Quimper. More>>

The impact of the Upper Pripyat river deepening works on the hydrological regime of Aquatic Warbler breeding habitats.

07.08.2008: More than 80 % of Ukrainian Aquatic Warblers breeds in Pripyat valley. Most of the territory is strictly protected by national and international legislation. Nevertheless, there is a serious threat for AW habitats in the Pripyat valley. The approved flood abatement program "Ecology-2010" in fact is a hidden draining of Pripyat floodplain and has already caused severe ecological damage. More>>

Two steps closer to the identification of the Aquatic Warbler wintering sites.

06.08.2008: As it was reported earlier, the first important wintering site of the Aquatic Warbler, Europe’s most threatened migratory songbird, had been discovered in and around the Djoudj National Park in north-western Senegal. Estimates of BirdLife International’s Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team (AWCT) show that from 5,000 to 15,000 birds winter in Djoudj, therefore this site could hold up to 60 % of the global population. Of prime importance is now the question: Are there other important wintering sites, and where to search for them? If there are more sites, we have to find these sites quickly in order to be able to protect them. Otherwise, all the conservation work carried out at the breeding and stopover sites might stay without effect, if the birds starve during winter. More>>

Extremely early mowing in Nemunas Delta leads to nearly zero breeding success.

09.07.2008: At the beginning of June while monitoring of Aquatic Warbler in Nemunas delta (Lithuania) intensive moving was registered. Such early mowing took place at the AW breeding site - Sausgalviai meadows, which are SPA (Natura2000), established for protection of AW and Great snipe (in the area also present Spotted crake, Corncrake). It is illegal according to the EU Birds Directive, because the maintenance status of an SPA and a priority species is affected. The intensification of farming practices takes place not only in mentioned Sausgalviai meadows, but in all AW breeding sites in Nemunas delta. More>>

А reliable extremely late AW record was obtained from North Africa: 27th May in Libya!

09.07.2008: An extremely late singing aquatic warbler male was registered in atypical stopover habitat that was situated considerably far east! The record fits to the very late arrival this year at the breeding sites. More>>

Short Report from the Senegal/Mauritania Expedition 2008 (12th – 27th January) to search for Aquatic Warbler wintering grouds.

09.07.2008: The participants of the expedition (BirdLife International, Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team)arrived safely and healthy at home. The planned schedule of the expedition could be successfully performed. The outstanding importance of the Djoudj area for wintering AW was confirmed. For instance, the team caught two AW that were ringed there one year before at the same place (site fidelity). Nevertheless, the situation of suitable grass marshes in the western Sahel is alarming! Obviously there have been tremendous losses of this habitat type during the past 2-3 decades.. More>>

AWCT expedition discovers the wintering grounds of the Aquatic Warbler!

25.02.2007: One of Europe’s last remaining ornithological mysteries has been solved finally, thanks to five years of detective work by an international team of researchers. An expedition team has pinpointed the wintering grounds of Europe’s most threatened migratory songbird – the aquatic warbler – in western Africa. This robin-sized bird nests in summer in the marshes of eastern central Europe - principally Poland, Belarus and the Ukraine - and some pass through southern England on migration to its previously unidentified wintering grounds. More>>

River works at Upper Pripiat threaten over 60 % of Ukrainian population of the Aquatic Warbler

23.10.2006: Upper Pripiat floodplain is one of the key Aquatic Warbler breeding sites in Europe. According to Aquatic Warbler survey, which is implemented every year by USPB, the BirdLife partner in the Ukraine, it supports about 3,5 thousand vocalizing males, or c. 85% of Ukrainian and up to 20 % of European population of the Aquatic Warbler. Implementation of Volyn regional programme “Ecology 2010”, approved by the State Regional Department on Ecology and Natural Resources of Volyn district, poses a real threat to wetlands of upper Pripiat in Volyn region. More>>

New colour-ringing scheme for the Aquatic Warbler in operation

01.08.2006: Starting from summer 2006 colour-ringing scheme for the Aquatic Warbler was launched in Belarus. The main aim of the study is to study breeding biology of the Aquatic Warbler. More>>

Summit meeting to protect one of the World’s  rarest songbird - 1st meeting of the Range States of the Aquatic Warbler Memorandum of Understanding

10.07.2006: Nations from across Europe and Africa have come together this week in the Lower Oder Valley National Park near Berlin in Germany, under the auspices of a United Nations Memorandum of Understanding, to discuss the future of mainland Europe’s rarest songbird, the aquatic warbler. More »