The 11th Conference of Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (themed ‘Wetlands: home and destination’) opens today in Bucharest, Romania, where for the next 10 days the Convention’s 162 Contracting Parties gather to advance the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands.

As one of five International Organization Partners (IOPs) to the Convention, BirdLife has strong and long-standing links with Ramsar. Many wetland Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are current or potential ‘Ramsar sites’ – Wetlands of International Importance designated under the Convention.

COP11 takes place in the shadow of the Rio+20 summit, where the world’s governments failed to make real progress on meeting pressing global challenges. The huge disappointment of Rio+20 might make Ramsar, brought into being during an earlier and more optimistic era of international negotiation, seem an irrelevance. In fact, the Convention has much to offer as a model of the collective approach needed to achieve sustainable development – with the intergovernmental system, national governments, local government, civil society and business working together, from a strong scientific foundation. The concept of ‘wise use’ enshrined in the convention directly addresses the issue of sustainability.

While the theme of this COP is wetlands, tourism and recreation, the 21 draft resolutions for negotiation are focused strongly on challenging sustainable development issues – including poverty, health, climate, the energy sector and responsible investment. Also on the table is a proposed “Integrated Framework and guidelines for avoiding, mitigating and compensating for wetland losses”.

BirdLife will be using the COP to highlight the threats to key wetlands from ill-considered ‘development’ that focuses only on short-term benefits. An IUCN Situation Analysis to be launched at this meeting warns of the imminent extinctions of species (notably migratory shorebirds) and collapse of crucial ecological services in East and South-east Asian tidal flats, especially around the Yellow Sea. Rapid reclamation is causing the disappearance of these habitats, which provide crucial refuelling sites for waterbirds on migration and crucial ecological infrastructure for people.

BirdLife will also be voicing concerns about the Bay of Panama wetlands. This Ramsar site is the most important staging area for migratory shorebirds in the entire Americas, with mangrove forests that play a vital role in supporting fisheries and protecting Panama City from floods. With its Protected Area status recently suspended for technical legal reasons, and controls on mangrove cutting and in-fill relaxed, survival of the Bay of Panama wetlands is now a test case for the effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention.

BirdLife has also provided updates on development threats to three key East African wetlands and IBAs – Lake Natron in Tanzania and Lake Naivasha and the Tana River Delta in Kenya.

Despite the very important issues up for discussion, there is a risk that much time and energy at COP will be spent on an administrative topic – the institutional hosting of the Ramsar Secretariat. Parties are divided about whether hosting should remain with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) or move to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The arguments for both options have been rehearsed endlessly but given the inevitable costs and disruption of a shift, BirdLife sees no justification for such a change. Alongside the other IOPs, BirdLife will be urging Parties to make a quick and definitive decision on this issue and avoid further distraction from the real challenges facing Ramsar.

A dozen Partner and Secretariat staff from around the world, together with Societatea Ornitologica Romana (BirdLife in Romania), will be representing BirdLife at the COP and working hard for positive outcomes for wetlands, birds and people. Watch this space for updates!

The Grey-Crowned Crane

The Grey-Crowned Crane - Balearica regulorum - has the most impressive plumage. There are only between 3000 to 4000 left in South Africa. It is a near-endemic to Southern Africa.

Description

The body of the Grey Crowned Crane is mainly grey. The wings are also predominantly white, but contain feathers with a range of colours. The head has a crown of stiff golden feathers. The sides of the face are white, and there is a bright red inflatable throat pouch. The bill is relatively short and grey and the legs are black. The sexes are similar, although males tend to be slightly larger. Young birds are greyer than adults, with a feathered buff face.

Call

It has a booming call which involves inflation of the red throat pouch. It also makes a honking sound quite different from the trumpeting of other crane species.

Food

It feeds on insects and other invertebrates, reptiles, small mammals, as well as grass seeds.

Breeding

The Grey Crowned Crane has a breeding display involving dancing, bowing, and jumping. The nest is a platform in tall wetland vegetation. It lays a clutch of 2 to 5 eggs. Incubation is performed by both sexes and lasts 28 to 31 days. Chicks fledge at between 56 to 100 days.

Birdwatching

Ask Aves Birding Tours/Safaris/Adventures to create a tour for you or book on one of the following Aves scheduled tours: -

Aves Eastern Cape Birding Tour / Safari /Adventure.

Aves Highlands / Tembe Birding Tour / Safari / Adventure.

Aves KZN Birding Tour/Safari/Adventure.

The Wattled Crane

The Wattled Crane - Bugeranus carunculatus - is by far the most endangered crane species in South Africa with only 240 left. They are the most wetland-dependent of Africa’s crane species and are exceptionally susceptible to disturbance while nesting in wetlands, and will easily desert a nest if disturbed.

Description

It is the largest crane in Africa with the back and wings ashy gray. The feathered portion of the head is dark slaty gray above the eyes and on the crown, but is otherwise white, including the wattles, which are almost fully feathered and hang down from under the upper throat. The breast, primaries, secondaries, and tail coverts are black. The secondaries are long and nearly reach the ground. The upper breast and neck are white all the way to the face. The skin in front of the eye extending to the base of the beak and tip of the wattles is red and bare of feathers and covered by small round wart-like bumps. Wattled Cranes have long bills and black legs and toes. Males and females are virtually indistinguishable although males tend to be slightly larger. Juveniles have tawny body plumage, lack the bare skin on the face, and have less prominent wattles.

Call

Wattled cranes are usually quiet birds. Their calls are high-pitched and include a far-carrying kwaamk bugle-call.

Food

The wattled crane mainly eats aquatic vegetation, but also eats tubers, rhizomes, seeds, small reptiles, frogs and insects. It often submerges its entire head under water when feeding.

Breeding

Wattled cranes breed only in wetlands. Breeding pairs maintain a territory, so that nests are always at least 500m apart. The nest is a large mound of grasses and sedges placed on a tuft, surrounded by open water. One or two eggs are laid, but only one ever hatches, the other being abandoned. Incubation period is 33-36 days. Fledging period is 135 days. Chicks reach adult height and can fly by four months, but are not sexually mature for 4 to 8 years. 

Birdwatching

Ask Aves Birding Tours/Safaris/Adventures to create a tour for you or book on one of the following Aves scheduled tours: -

Aves Highlands / Tembe Birding Tour / Safari / Adventure.

Aves KZN Birding Tour / Safari / Adventure.