Integrating science with practice and the sharing of knowledge and core tenets that advance the conservation of migratory waterbirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
The second congress on migratory waterbird conservation in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, held in Bacolod, the Philippines from the 8th to 11th October epitomizes this. This meeting received over 100 delegates hailing from the Philippines, Australia, the United States, Pakistan, Singapore, Japan, Russia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, China, Laos, Malaysia and India. The attendees comprised practitioners and researchers, as well as policy and decision-makers from the local, provincial, and national levels of the host country, Philippines.
“Research and development for wetlands and migratory waterbirds in the course of climate change” was the main theme of this year’s congress, with two full days of oral and poster presentations discussing wetland management experiences, waterbird monitoring and wetland conservation policy. On behalf of a team of 17 co-authors, Ed Gallo-Cajio presented research concerning the hunting of migratory shorebirds along this flyway led by the Fuller Lab. The conference concluded with a “workshop” where attendees collaboratively developed a list of priorities for research and management actions based on all the topics presented. It was extremely heartening to witness that everyone was keen on conducting robust research for direct application to conservation. Some attendees committed themselves further to the cause by engaging with the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Attendees further had the opportunity to visit the Philippine’s most recently designated Ramsar and EAAFP network site near the city of Bacolod, an area important to many threatened migratory shorebirds, such as Nordmann’s Greenshank and Far Eastern Curlew.
This event was organized and funded by the Philippine’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The Fuller Lab is deeply appreciative for this opportunity, and looks forward to the next Congress!