An atlas of wader populations in Africa and western Eurasia

The African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) came into force on 1 November 1999. Effective implementation of the AEWA Agreement and Action Plan requires that detailed knowledge be readily available on the limits of the populations of migratory waterbirds covered by the Agreement; their migration routes; the sizes and trends of their populations; and the networks of sites which are critical for their survival. It is particularly important that the limits of each population be defined on amap, since these constitute the units on which the estimation of population size and 1% criteria, determination of trends, and identification of key sites are based. For the ducks, geese and swans of the AEWA region, this information was compiled in the Atlas of Anatidae Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia. Following this, the International Wader Study Group, a Specialist Group of Wetlands International, is now preparing a similar publication on the waders covered by AEWA, the Atlas of Wader Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia, referred to hereafter as the Wader Atlas. Introductory chapters and 39 species accounts have been written. These were distributed as a consultation draft at the First Meeting of Parties of AEWA in Cape Town in November 1999. The consultation draft of the Wader Atlas includes 29 species that breed in Eurasia (but often winter in Africa), and 10 Afrotropical species. Species accounts still need to be written for 20 species breeding in Eurasia, and 29 that live in Africa. In this paper we discuss the way the project has been tackled, some results, its strong points, aspects that could perhaps be improved upon, and how amateur and professional ornithologists active in Africa might contribute.