NewsLink is grateful to the following sponsors for their support:

Association of State
Wetland Managers


International Affairs, Office of U.S Fish & Wildlife Service

U.S. National Ramsar Committee

First Complete Coastal Waterbird Census in Sierra Leone

The Working Group International Waterbird and Wetland Research (WIWO) together with The Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL) and the Government Wildlife Conservation Branch (WCB) executed a waterbird census in January-February 2005 of all coastal wetlands of Sierra Leone. In former years parts of the coast were counted, but for the first time ever in 2005 a more or less complete midwinter census was carried out. Fore more information contact jvdwinden@hetnet.nl [Jan van der Winden (WIWO)]

News from Partners in Flight
First South American Reserve is Created for North American Songbird

The Cerulean Warbler is the most endangered North America songbird that winters in South America. Since 1966 it has experienced a 70% decline from habitat fragmentation and destruction in its breeding and wintering ranges. The warbler undertakes a 3000+ mile migration across the Caribbean to the Northern Andes of South America. To download a migration map click here. For more information contact Paul Salaman, American Bird Conservancy, psalaman@abcbirds.org

News from Iowa Audubon
Panama Highlands Birding Tour February 25-March 7, 2006...

...with an Extension into the famous Darien Region March 7-10, 2006. "The prices are right, the times are right, the extremely rich birdlife is waiting, and the habitats we’ll visit may never be in a healthier ecological condition." Click here [Ric Zarwell]

Ramsar News:

- Republic of Korea will host COP10 sometime between September and November of 2008. The venue will be the southeastern city of Changwong, the capital of Gyeongsangnam-do Province.

- Cape Verde Joins the Convention with 3 wetland sites: Lagoa de Rabil, Curral Velho, and Lagoa de Pedra Badejo.

- For a Wetland Report Update on Cooperation between the Czech Republic and Ethiopia
click here.

- Montenegro and Albania cooperate on Lake Skadar
To learn more click here.

New Ramsar Sites:
Côte d'Ivoire - 5 new sites
The Government of Belize - 1 new site: Sarstoon Temash National Park
El Salvador - 2nd site: Complejo Bahía de Jiquilisco
Finland - 38 new sites
Malaysia has designated Sarawak's Kuching Wetlands National Park
Papua New Guinea - 12 new sites
Government of Poland - 5 new sites
Vietnam - "Bau Sau (Crocodile Lake) Wetlands and Seasonal Floodplains"
Republic of Moldova - "Unguri - Holosnita"
Government of Niger - 5 new sites: La mare de Dan Doutchi, La mare de Tabalak La mare de Lassouri The Oasis du Kawar, the Gueltas et Oasis de l'Aïr.
United Kingdom - 1 new site: Alderney West Coast and the Burhou Islands.

For more details click here. http://www.ramsar.org/

UNEP African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement Bestows Award to David Stroud

At its 3rd Meeting of the Parties in Dakar, Senegal in October David Stroud won the Waterbird Conservation Award in the individual category. David has been a long-time contributor to the Ramsar Convention's work and is presently a member of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP), as well as the liaison officer of the International Wader Study Group (WSG), which acts as Wetlands International's Wader Specialist Group. He is a leading researcher in the study of the now rapidly declining population of Greenland White-fronted Geese.

News from Waterbird Conservation for the Americas
Marshbird Status Assessment Workshop Results are Available

The continental-scale assessment is a tool to inform conservation planners at smaller scales and to drive conservation actions on behalf of waterbirds and their habitats. Click here
[Jennifer Wheeler]

Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network - 3 New Sites

- El Estuario del Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina
- El Llano de la Soledad, Nuevo León, México
- Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, USA

For more information contact WHSRN@manomet.org

News from Wetlands International- South Asia

- Position Statement on Avian Influenza Click here

- Avian Influenza Granted High Profile at Ramsar Meeting in Uganda November 8 – 15
The highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 is feared by some to be a potential source for a human flu pandemic should it mutate to a form that spreads easily from human to human. The meetings held in Uganda included 150 Contracting Parties of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar) and over 90 Contracting Parties of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), including most Asian countries. Two important resolutions on migratory birds and their habitats, both call for protection of migratory species and habitat conservation, highlighted the many vectors that are known to spread the disease (poor poultry management, trade, equipment movement and human activities, migratory birds, etc.) It was noted that there is a lack of conclusive evidence that clearly links the spread with movement of birds which have been widely blamed as being the main cause. Resolution “Highly pathogenic avian influenza and its consequences for wetland and waterbird conservation and wise use" are available:
HTML - http://ramsar.org/res/key_res_ix_23_e.htm
PDF - http://ramsar.org/res/key_res_ix_23_e.pdf
The final versions of the resolutions will appear on the Ramsar website after the holidays.
[Taej Mundkur]

New Avian Flu Early Warning System Based on Migratory Bird Maps

21 November 2005 - Environment News Service – A bird flu early warning system that can alert countries and communities to the arrival of potentially infected migratory wild birds, will be developed by an alliance of organizations led by the United Nations. The system is to be developed by the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) with support and funding from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Click here

West Bengal Marshland Protected

17 November 2005 - BBC News, by Subir Bhaumik, Calcutta, India - India's West Bengal state has set up an authority to protect one of the world's biggest expanses of urban marshland. Click here

Climate Change Map Reveals Countries Most Under Threat

17 November 2005 - The Independent, by Steve Connor – Scientists have compiled one of the first comprehensive pictures of what the world might be like when climate change begins to trigger a dramatic increase in epidemics, disease and death. Teams of specialists have assessed the scale of the dangers to human health when changes in the climate lead to higher incidences of weather extremes, such as high temperatures, floods and drought. The findings are in the journal Nature. Click here

Millions Face Water Shortages Due to Climate Change

17 November 2005 - SciDev.Net, by Mike Shanahan - Climate change will cause major water shortages for millions of people in Asia and South America who depend on snow and glaciers for their water supplies, say researchers. They warn that time is running out for these regions to prepare for a severe water-supply crisis. Click here

Sacrificing His Life to Defend the Life of the Wetlands

15 November 2005 - IPS, by Mario Osava, Rio de Janeiro – The environmental struggle in Brazil has reached the point of human sacrifice with the death of veteran activist Francisco Anselmo de Barros, who set himself on fire to save the Pantanal wetlands in west-central Brazil that stretch into Bolivia and Paraguay. Click here

Louisiana's Marshes Fight for Their Lives

15 November 2005 — The New York Times, by Cornelia Dean - Shea Penland nosed his truck along a mud-covered street, past uprooted trees, cars leaning crazily on fences, torn-off roofs, and piles of ruined furniture, wallboard and shingles... Finally, he spotted what he was seeking. "Look at that," he said, pointing to what looked like misshaped bowling balls tufted with long strands of yellow grass, seemingly thrown onto the porch and through the gaping doorway of a wrecked brick ranch house. Marshballs." Click here

New Dams Destroying Water Sources and Damaging Economies

14 November 2005 — Environmental News Network, by Sam Cage, Geneva — New dams intended to provide cheaper power and support irrigation systems are destroying important water sources and causing economic disruption, a leading environmental group said in a report released Monday. The report by the World Wide Fund for Nature noted that dams can destroy wetlands, which hold water like sponges and cannot be replicated by manmade storage facilities. Click here

Fish Numbers Plummet in Warming Pacific

13 November 2005 - The Independent, by Geoffrey Lean, San Francisco - Disappearance of plankton causes unprecedented collapse in sea and bird life off western US coast. A catastrophic collapse in sea and bird life numbers along America's Northwest Pacific seaboard is raising fears that global warming is beginning to irreparably damage the health of the oceans. Scientists say a dramatic rise in the ocean temperature led to unprecedented deaths of birds and fish this summer all along the coast from central California to British Columbia in Canada. Click here

Asian Governments Urged to Strengthen Wetland Protection

11 November 2005 - This BirdLife International Report identifies 1,111 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and potential Ramsar sites in Asia. This means that 991 or 89% of the potential sites identified in the BirdLife International report have not yet been afforded protection under the Ramsar Convention. Click here

Hard Choices Seen in Efforts to Help Louisiana Wetlands

10 November 2005, New York Times, by Cornelia Dean – Restoring Louisiana's vanished wetlands, or even maintaining those that remain, will be impossible, according to an expert panel convened in 2004 by the National Academy of Sciences to consider a major proposal for wetlands restoration in the state. The panel says the time has come for state and local governments, businesses and citizens to start talking about which wetland areas can be preserved and which must be abandoned, a process it called "managed retreat." Click here

Hurricanes Take Bite out of Louisiana Wetlands

10 November 2005 - Environmental News Network, by Cain Burdeau, Venice, Louisiana – People often think of Louisiana as an American Amazon - hot, jungly swamps where alligators drowsily peer from sluggish bayous and critters slink across vine-covered grounds. Today, it's more like Kansas-on-the-water. Click here

Restoration of Gulf Coast Wetlands Poses Challenge

10 November 2005, by Christopher Joyce, National Public Radio, Morning Edition – The coastal wetlands of Louisiana have been destroyed by decades of development and engineering projects. Scientists want to restore these wetlands, but there's uncertainty about how to proceed with such a huge task. Click here

Wetlands Awards Honor Pioneers in Australia, China, Iran, Japan

8 November 2005 - Environment News Service, Kampala, Uganda - These awards were granted at the Ramsar Covention's ninth meeting of 147 country representatives held in Kampala, Uganda. Click here for the details.

USGS Reports Preliminary Wetland Loss Estimates from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

1 November 2005 - US Geological Survey News Release - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita transformed some 100 square miles of marsh to open water in southeastern Louisiana, according to preliminary estimates by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) based on an analysis of Landsat satellite data from September and October. Click here http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1409

New Science Study: Mangroves Shielded Communities against Tsunami

27 October 2005 - World Wildlife Fund, Washington DC - A new study released in the journal "Science" shows that areas buffered by coastal forests, like mangroves, were strikingly less damaged by the 2004 tsunami than areas without tree vegetation. This is believed to be the first peer-reviewed empirical and field-based study to document a clear link between coastal vegetation and protection from the tsunami. The study was undertaken by a research team from seven nations... Click here

Thirst in the World's Freshwater Paradise

27 October 2005 - Tierramérica, by Mario Osava, Rio de Janeiro - A shortage of water in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, one of the world's largest sources of freshwater, might seem unconceivable, but it is real and should serve as a red alert to the irreversible tragedy that will unfold if deforestation is not curbed, warn experts consulted by Tierramérica. Click here

Panama Bay IBA joins Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

21 October 2005 - BirdLife International Press Release - The Upper Bay of Panama is the first site in Central America to join the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN), a partnership of organisations working to protect shorebirds and their habitats through a network of key sites across the Americas. Because of its importance to migratory birds, BirdLife identified the bay as an Important Bird Area (IBA) in 2003. Click here

Flu on the Wing of Migratory Birds

22 October 2005 - Tierramérica, by Francesa Colombo, Milan, Italy – Activists are calling on the European Union to ban the hunting of migratory birds, the main vector for the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu from Asia. Following the first outbreaks of bird flu in Turkey, Romania, Greece and Russia, the European Union is stepping up health controls, while environmentalists are pushing for a ban on bird hunting, based on evidence that migratory species are the main vectors of the virus. Click here

Supreme Court Takes Up 2 Cases Challenging Powers of U.S. Regulators to Protect Wetlands

12 October 2005 - New York Times, Linda Greenhouse - The Supreme Court accepted two cases on the federal regulation of wetlands on Tuesday, bringing the court's federalism revolution into the heartland of environmental policy. The cases, both from Michigan, challenge regulators' definition of federally protected wetlands under both the Clean Water Act and the Constitution. The question is whether the federal government is properly asserting jurisdiction over wetlands that may be part of a drainage area or tributary system but do not actually abut the "navigable waters" to which the Clean Water Act refers. Click here

Ducks Unlimited Latin American and Caribbean Program (LAC)
New LAC program website

This website (still under construction) offers information being gathering through LAC projects and is part of the LAC Gateway being developed by DU which will be available shortly.

[my apologies, there is odd formatting here that I can't seem to fix.]

Hurricane Katrina Coverage
Go to Environmental Health News


Save the Albatross
BirdLife International and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have launched this site as part of their ongoing campaign to halt worldwide damaging longline fishing. [Paul Baicich]

Community-Based Watershed Management Handbook (USA)

This Handbook from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Estuary Program, offers a handbook describing innovative approaches to watershed management based on 28 National Estuary Program sites, which operate through partnerships between all levels of government and local community groups. Click here

4-7 January
Environmental Change in Lakes, Lagoons & Wetlands of the Southern Mediterranean Region (ECOLLAW): 1st International Conference
Cairo, Egypt. Organised jointly between University College London (UK) and the National Authority for Remote Sensing & Space Sciences (NARSS), stemming from the EU-INCO funded project MELMARINA (Monitoring & Modelling Coastal Lagoons: Making Management Tools for Aquatic Resources in North Africa). Email: info.ecollaw2006@geog.ucl.ac.uk Click here

New
5 - 7 January
1st Annual Meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists – Europe
Integrating our approaches to Wetland Science, Bangor, Wales, UK Click here.

New
8 - 12 January
The Ecological Society of America is hosting "Ecology in an Era of Globalization"
Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Click here.

11 - 13 January
Annual Waterbird Conservation Council
Santo Domingo, Costa Rica, Hotel Bougainvillea, to be followed by a fieldtrip the 13th and 4th.
The Council's annual meeting is an extremely important opportunity to get to know eachother better, assess progress, set direction and to advance waterbird conservation.

New
16 January
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Hemispheric Council Meeting
San José, Costa Rica. For further information contact: WHSRN@manomet.org

New
16 - 20 January
The Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Conference
Entitled “Hands across the Hemisphere: Helping People to Help Wildlife” to be held in Costa Rica. For further information please contact Marina Ratchford: marina_ratchford@fws.gov

New
23 - 29 January
2nd International Festival of Migratory Birds
San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico. For more information click here

Updated
30 January - 2 February
Wetlands, Water and Livelihoods Workshop
An international workshop exploring best practices and lessons learned in integrating poverty - environment issues. Seasands Lodge & Conference Centre, St. Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The purpose of this workshop will be to formally launch the Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project and to gather support for, and input into, this new 4-year initiative. For more details click here.

February

New
15 - 19 February
33rd Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group
Alyeska Prince Hotel, Girdwood, Alaska. Sessions will focus on what chemical analyses can tell us about seabirds, fisheries/seabird interactions, marine birds as indicators of the marine ecosystem, and planktivorous alcids. Click here

New
17 - 20 February
The Great Backyard Bird Count (all over the USA)
The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory encourage everyone to go count birds. Click here


20 – 23 February
4th Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration Training Workshop
Hollywood, Florida, USA, Anne Kolb Nature Center. The workshop includes an introduction to mangrove forest ecology, management options and problems, and restoration design issues. Case studies of 5 successful mangrove restoration projects, and several unsuccessful projects, are discussed. This course is organized by the Coastal Resources Group, Inc., and will be taught in conjunction with the Mangrove Action Project (www.earthisland.org/map). More information can be provided by Robin Lewis: LESRRL3@aol.com or Click here

27 February - 2 March
Shorebird Science in the Western Hemisphere
Boulder, Colorado. Click here for more details and logistics or email David Lank at: dlank@sfu.ca

March

March - June [4 months]
Wetlands for Water Quality - Online Course
UNESCO-IHE (Institute for Water Education) and the Partnership of Water Education and Research (POWER) Offer this online Course. It begins March 1 and lasts for 4 months. Click here for more information.


May

New
13 May
International Migratory Bird Day
The 2006 theme is the Boreal Forest: Bird Nursery of the North
Click here

June

New
11 - 14 June
II Congress of Neotropical Raptors and Symposium on Raptors of the South Cone
Iguazu, Argentina. Deadline for submission of presentations and abstracts is February 1, 2006. Abstracts must be written in Spanish, English or Portuguese and must be no greater than 250 words. Oral or poster presentations may be in any of these languages. There will be simultaneous translation during the oral presentations. Deadline for travel grants is February 1, 2006. The Peregrine Fund will concede a limited number of travel grants to Latin-American and Caribbean participants. Click here

20th Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, Conservation Without Borders
San Jose McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, California, USA. Click here

August

6 – 11 August
Ecological Society of America 91st Annual Meeting
Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Click here

Updated
13 – 19 August
24th International Ornithological Congress
The Deutsche Ornithologen–Gesellschaft (DO–G, German Ornithologist's Society) and Institute of Avian Reseach 'Vogelwarte Helgoland,' Wilhelmshaven
Hamburg, Germany. Click here

29 - 31 August
Wetlands 2006: Wetlands of the Great Lakes
Organized by the Association of State Wetland Managers. Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, Traverse City, Michigan, USA. For more information contact: laura@aswm.org.


September

1 – 3 September
Seabird Populations Under Pressure
Aberdeen, Scotland. To be hosted by the (UK) Seabird Group. For further information contact: Mark Tasker: mark.tasker@jncc.gov.uk

October

2 – 7 October
4th North American Ornithological Conference (NAOC)
Veracruz, Mexico. Other associated meetings: American Ornithologists' Union, Association of Field Ornithologists, CIPAMEX (Sección Mexicana de Consejo Internacional para la Preservación de las Aves, A. C.) , Cooper Ornithological Society, Raptor Research Foundation, Society of Canadian Ornithologists / Société des Ornithologistes du Canada, The Waterbird Society, Wilson Ornithological Society. Click here

December

9 – 13 December
3rd National Conference and Expo on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration, "Forging the National Imperative for Restoration"
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Hilton Riverside Hotel. Contact Conference Planning/Program coordinator, Steve Emmett-Mattox at sem@estuaries.org

2007

June 2007

4 - 9 June
VIII Neotropical Ornithological Congress
Maturín (Monagas), Venezuela & Unión Venezolana de Ornitología. Click here

August 2007

New
5 - 10 August
92nd Annual Meeting of The Ecological Society of America
San Jose McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, California

New
8 - 11 August 2007
A meeting of The American Ornithologists' Union will meet at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming

The End
1 December 2005