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News from Wetlands International
Biofuel Demand and Africa: Threat to Wetlands and Forests For the full story click here.
Healthy Wetlands: An Effective Climate Change Response For the full story click here.

Methane Rise Points to Wetlands [Global]
23 May 2008, BBC News, by Richard Black - Higher atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas methane noted last year are probably related to emissions from wetlands, especially around the Arctic.

Why a Gulf Wetlands May Become a City [Mississippi, USA]
21 May 2008, Christian Science Monitor, by Patrik Jonsson - If America learned one thing from hurricane Katrina, hydrologists argue, it should be this: Don't fill in tideland marshes and build on them. Such human activity, they insist, diminishes the marshes' ability to absorb some of the wallop of storms as they strike coastal communities.

Bird Migration — Revisited [USA]
Warming has Brought Changes in Range, Flight Pattern of Many Avian Species
18 May 2008, Gazette Reporter, by Bill Buell - Even if you did get an A in ornithology as recently as five years ago, Rich Guthrie suggests that most birdwatchers should take a refresher course.

Bush Administration Bars Drilling in Arctic Wetland [USA]
16 May 2008, Environmental News Network, by Yereth Rosen - The Bush administration proposed keeping potentially oil-rich wetlands in Arctic Alaska off-limits to drilling because of their ecological sensitivity, a reversal of its earlier plan.

Federal Communications Commission to Revisit Tower Lighting After Conservation Legal Win [USA]
16 May 2008, RCR Wireless News, by Jeffrey Silva - The FCC is revisiting the controversial licensing of thousands of towers in the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of a successful legal challenge by conservation groups concerned about the safety of migratory birds.

Godwits in Flight to Reveal Habitat's Plight [Australia]
11 May 2008, theage.com.au, by John Elder - Among the exodus were 15 bar-tailed godwits implanted with tracking devices — with a transmitter antenna stuck out of the backside like an extra tail-feather — allowing researchers to follow their route online. Birds Australia has found that migratory bird species such as the curlew sandpiper and eastern curlew have suffered population declines of about 75% throughout southern Australia over the past 25 years.

Majestic But Crumbling Wetlands Cathedral [United Kingdom]
11 May 2008, Telegraph.co.uk, by Patrick Sawer - Known as "the cathedral of the marshes", Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh sits majestically among the north Suffolk wetlands, a symbol of permanence in a changing world.

Last Call for Flight 2008 to Europe... [South Africa]
11 May 2008, Independent Online, Leon Marshall - These are avian migrants, whose seasonal movements are only now beginning to be properly appreciated for the truly epic proportions they assume. One particularly remarkable traveller is the little bar-tailed godwit...which last year astounded all with its heroics when it went on a nine-day, non-stop flight of 10,200km - without a tailwind - from New Zealand's North Island to Yalu Jiang at the northern extreme of the Yellow Sea... it went on to cause even more astonishment with a longer - in time and distance - non-stop return flight.

No More Clearing of Mangrove Forest [Malaysia]
12 May 2008, NSTonline, by Julia Chan - There will be no more clearing of mangrove swamps in Sabah for development, State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said: "Mangrove swamps have been cleared for large-scale development projects. No more."

Hundreds Turn Out for Long Island Migratory Birds [New York, USA]
11 May 2008, Newsday.com, by Christina Hernandez - At the Shirley refuge yesterday, about 350 people celebrated the second annual International Migratory Bird Celebration. The daylong event honored migratory birds' long travels, said Deborah Long, refuge manager for the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

NEMA Chief Accused of Abetting Wetland Destruction [Uganda]
11 May 2008, The New Vision, by Chris Kiwawulo and Tony Barigye - The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) chief, Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, has been accused of allegedly abetting wetland encroachment....several plots in wetlands were issued to the rich and influential people at the expense of the poor.

Migratory Birds Threatened by Changing Environment, UN Warns [Global]
8 May 2008, United Nations News Centre – Numbers of migratory birds - considered to be some of the best gauges of the state of global biodiversity - are plunging in the face of a changing environment, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned...

Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] Reformulates Contentious Rules for Restoring Destroyed Wetlands [USA]
6 May, The Bay Journal - The EPA in late March announced requirements that would encourage developers to compensate for the destruction of wetlands or streams... The regulation encourages the expanded use of so-called "mitigation banking" where a developer can obtain a permit to destroy a wetland or stream...

Molecular Action May Keep Birds on Course
5 May 2008, Washingtonpost.com, by Rick Weiss - Four decades after scientists showed that migratory birds use Earth's magnetic field to orient themselves during their seasonal journeys, researchers have at last found a molecular mechanism that may explain how they do it.

Resevoir Larger than Manhattan Planned to Help Everglades
5 May 2008, Associated Press, by Brian Skoloff— Around South Florida's vast sugar cane fields, where turtles grow to the size of basketballs and alligators own the marsh, the silence of the swamp is broken by the sound of rumbling trucks and explosions...

Rare Bird Returns to Lancashire Wetland
1 May 2008, Lancashire Evening Post - A rare bird is returning to a Lancashire wildfowl centre in record numbers. Avocets, usually found in warm and hot climates, have been flocking to the Martin Mere wetland centre, near Ormskirk, where there are now 15 nesting pairs. Once an extinct species in Britain, the centre now has a total of 58 of the summer wading birds known for their long legs and thin, curved bills.

Double Efforts to Save Lake Victoria [Uganda]
30th April, 2008, The New Vision - The green algae, which is spreading to wider parts of Lake Victoria is a source of concern. The management of solid waste remains pathetic.

Birds Can 'See' the Earth's Magnetic Field
30 April 2008, New Scientist, by Catherine Brahic - It has been debated for nearly four decades but no one has yet been able to prove it is chemically possible. Now good evidence suggests that birds can actually "see" the lines of the Earth's magnetic field.

European Court Bans Spring Bird Hunting in Malta [Belgium]
29 April 2008, Environment News Service, - In a victory long-sought by bird conservationists, the European Court of Justice Thursday ruled that the spring hunting of the European turtle-dove and common quail on the island of Malta would not be allowed this year.

State’s Wetlands to be Celebrated in May [South Carolina, USA]
28 April 2008, Hometowntimes, Inc. - May has been proclaimed "South Carolina Wetlands Month" by Governor Mark Sanford. "Although wetlands serve as a vital link between land and water, they are historically misunderstood and underappreciated...

Build a Statewide Birding Trail and the Birders Will Come [Maine, USA]
27 April 2008, Portland Press Herald, by Deidre Fleming - Maine Birding Trail's founder Bob Duchesne of Hudson has been at work.... by next spring, he will have a book on the trail published by Down East Books and a 30-page brochure produced by the Maine Department of Conservation with the help of a grant. On his own, Duchesne is promoting the trail to inns near public lands and offering his guiding services for free, asking only that the innkeepers reimburse him for his travel expenses.

WWF carnival Highlights Importance of Pakistan’s Wetlands
21 April 2008, Daily Times, Lahore - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pakistan held its annual nature carnival at Ali Institute of Education. More than 500 parents, school students and teachers attended the carnival. This year the theme for the carnival was ‘Pakistan’s Wetlands.’ Various stalls were also set up at the carnival. They included environmental games, face painting. a puppet and magic show and live musical performances. Awareness raising posters, bookmarks and booklets about wetlands were also distributed among the participants.

UCF Scientists Study Cattle Ranching's Role in Wetlands [Florida]
20 April 2008, The Sentinel, Amy Rippel - Three University of Central Florida scientists have set out to help determine how best to preserve the state's wetlands and the cattle that thrive there.

Scientists' Research Underway to Protect Wetlands [South Africa]
20 April 2008, South Africa Broadcasting Corporation - Scientific research is underway to help protect the sensitive wetlands and water systems of Lake St Lucia in South Africa's first world heritage site... The Sound of Silence: Britain's Lost Birds 19 April 2008, The Independent - The woodlands of Britain are becoming quieter every year, as native birds fail to reproduce and migrants don’t return. What exactly is going on? Michael McCarthy investigates..."...The causes are complex, but the phenomenon is real. "A bird like a cuckoo is emblematic, a symbol of spring. When you stop hearing them, you really do feel that something's gone desperately wrong."

Legislation Introduced to Conserve Rapidly Disappearing Migratory Birds [USA]
14 April 2008, American Bird Conservancy Press Release - Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) have introduced legislation to fund efforts to help protect migratory birds. The act, H.R. 5756, reauthorizes the existing Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA), but at significantly higher levels, to meet the growing needs of our migrants, many of which are in rapid decline.

More Wetlands Recommended for International Protection [Vietnam]
13 April 2008, VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam has recommended four more wetland sites across the country for recognition as parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. These sites include the Tram Chim National Park in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap , Ba Be Lake in northern Bac Kan province, U Minh Forest and Mui Ca Mau National Park in the southernmost province of Ca Mau , according to Dr. Tran Ngoc Cuong, deputy head of the Nature Conservation Division under the Environmental Protection Department.

Extreme Levles of South-east Asian Haze from Peat-fires Expected
10 April 2008, Wetlands International Press Release - Wetlands International is concerned with the recent warning issued by the South-east Asian 'Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution' that the haze this year will be worse than 2006.

Why Migratory Birds from Asia Land in Europe?
9 April 2008, Science Centric - Migratory birds make mistakes in terms of direction, but not distance. These are the findings of a team of ornithologists and ecologists from the University of Marburg, the Ornithological Society in Bavaria and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), writing in the Journal of Ornithology.

Secretary Kempthorne Announces $4.5 Million for Migratory Bird Conservation [USA]
1 April 2008, USFWS Press Release - Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne today announced nearly $4.5 million in federal grants to support neotropical migratory bird conservation in the United States, Canada, Mexico and many Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Otter Spotted in Wetlands [Kansas, USA]
March 2008, by Cory Smith - George Frazier and his daughter, Chloe, were walking along a path near the Baker University Wetlands when they noticed some odd animal tracks. What he found was a northern river otter, which hasn’t been seen in Douglas County for more than 100 years, state wildlife officials said Tuesday.

Wings Over Wetlands - New Website
This initiative is the largest in the international wetland and waterbird conservation field to take place in the African-Eurasian region.

Wetlands on Wheels Project
The mobile wetlands on wheels classroom is available for schools and public viewing by registering. This initiative draws on interpersonal interactions in the school environment to raise awareness amongst children about environmental issues and the responsibility they have in understanding and protecting ecosystems.

JULY
13 - 17 July
22nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology
Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. Hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanoogas Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. To be held at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

22 - 25 July
3rd Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative (WHMSI) Conference
Asuncion, at the Yacht & Golf Paraguay, Paraguay.
For more information contact Marina Sansostri Ratchford, Chief, Branch of Latin America & the Caribbean Division of International Conservation: marina_ratchford[AT]fws.gov. Please respond by April 15 2008 to Alberto Yanosky (yanosky[AT]guyra.org.py) and cc. Cristina Morales: cristinam[AT]guyra.org.py) to confirm your participation. Wildlife Directors from government agencies in all 35 countries of the Western Hemisphere; representatives from non-governmental organizations and international conventions interested in migratory species conservation in the hemisphere will be present.

New
28 - 29 July
Ephemeral Wetland Construction Workshop
British Columbia
A hands-on wetland workshop will teach about building naturally appearing wetlands for native amphibians on a forested landscape.

September

New
5 - 12 September
Partners in Flight Committee Meetings
before and during the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies 98th Annual Meeting
Saratoga Springs, NY, USA.

New
September 8 - 9
September Workshop on Adaptation to the Impacts of Global changes on River Basins and Aquifer Systems
Paris, France. Organized by UNESCO.

New
15 - 19 September
Wetlands 2008: Wetlands and Global Climate Change
Portland, Oregon. Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Portland-Lloyd Center.

New
18 - 20 September
12th Biennial Conference of Euromediterranean Network of Experimental and Representative Basins
Cracow, Poland. Conference theme: Hydrological Extremes in Small Basins.

New
22 - 27 September
BirdLife International's 2008 World Conservation Conference and Global Partnership Meeting
Buenos Aires, Argentina.


23 - 27 September
11th North American Crane Workshop
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Glacier Canyon Lodge Convention Center, USA. The workshop is sponsored by the North American Crane Working Group. Deadline for submission of abstracts for oral presentations and posters is 20 June 2008. For more information contact Jane Austin: jane_austin[AT]usgs.gov; Tel: (701) 253-5510

October

New
15 - 18 October
4th International Symposium on Transboundary Waters Management
Thessaloniki, Greece.

October 28 - November 4
10th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention
Changwon, Republic of Korea.

November

1 - 7 November
Wetland 2008: 11th International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control
Indore, India. Organised by International Water Association (IWA) and Institute of Environment Management and PlantSciences, Vikram University (India).

5 - 8 November
32nd Annual Meeting of the Waterbird Society
South Padre Island, Texas.


2009

March 2009

2 - 5 March 2009
7th Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration Training Workshop
Hollywood, Florida, USA.

New
15 - 22 March 2009
Fifth World Water Forum
Istanbul, Turkey. Organized by the World Water Council. Theme: Bridging Divides for Water.

April 2009

Updated
8 - 12 April 2009
The Wilson Ornithological Society and the Association of Field Ornithologists annual meetings.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.


June 2009

New
22 - 26 June 2009

Society of Wetland Scientists 30th Annual Meeting will hold a joint meeting with the Wisconsin Wetlands Association and the International Symposium on Wetland Biogeochemistry.
Madison, Wisconsin. USA Theme: Wetland Connections


2010

August 2010
Updated
22 - 28 August
The 25th International Ornithological Congress
Campos do Jordão, Brazil.

The End
1 June 2008