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.