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Government representatives of 12 countries comprising the migratory range of the Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola), have passed a formal resolution congratulating the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (OTOP) and the Biebrza National Park for the outstanding nature conservation success they have been able to deliver at the Biebrza Marshes through the implementation of a large project targeting the conservation of the Aquatic Warbler, Poland’s biggest ornithological gem. They had gathered with almost 90 Polish and international conservationists and scientists at a conference 11–15 May 2010 at Biebrza National Park. The conference aimed to explain and present the work and achievements of the project, that is largely funded by the EU LIFE Programme.
During the conference participants could observe that now Biebrza marshes look much better than before starting the Aquatic Warbler LIFE project. Scientific monitoring has shown, that the species has re-occupied already over 250 ha that the species had previously lost, and that numbers in the managed areas have grown. But even without science, the change is obvious for interested visitors, like Dr. Karl Schulze-Hagen, a well-known German scientist who studied Aquatic Warblers at Biebrza 10 years ago and only returned to the site for the recent conference: “Where I remember to be only dense reeds and upcoming trees, where Aquatic Warblers struggled to survive, I can now again see the wide open fen mire full of singing birds, as it must have existed here 30 years ago. This is close to a conservation miracle, which I never dreamt to become true.”
The LIFE Project conference was closely followed by the 2nd Meeting of Signatory States of the Memorndum of Understatnding concerning conservation measures for the Aquatic Warbler (as a sub-agreement to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, CMS). The government representatives from 12 countries, amongst them from Africa, where the Aquatic Warblers spend the winter months, had a chance to evaluate actions undertaken to protect the Aquatic Warbler from extinction.
During this meeting, the signatory states adopted a new International Species Action Plan for the Aquatic Warbler, which had been updated based on the new results delivered by OTOP’s LIFE Project. This plan is the basis of the political agreement that joins the countries in their effort to protect the species.
CMS Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema from Tanzania said: “We must redouble our efforts to protect this unique songbird. New concerted actions in Europe and Africa to save this most endangered bird species during the International Year of Biodiversity will also maintain the crucial wetlands on which so many other species depend.”
During the conference, France and Mali signed the CMS agreement to join the other 12 signatory states. France is especially important, because the entire world population passes through France once or twice a year, when the birds depend on intact refuelling stations. Mali is considered a potentially critically important country for the Aquatic Warbler. Scientists believe that a very important part of the world population could overwinter in this country, an international expedition with Polish participation aimed at identifying its wintering sites is planned for next year.