13 April 2018
East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea becomes the 36th Partner of East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPR Korea) has become the 36th Partner of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP, http://eaaflyway.net/). The EAAFP is a network of Partners within the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAF) who cooperate to conserve the migratory waterbirds, their habitat and the livelihoods of people dependent upon them. There are currently 36 Partners including countries, intergovernmental agencies, international non-governmental organizations and international private enterprise.
As part of the process to join the EAAFP, the DPR Korea has nominated the Mundok Migratory Bird Reserve and Kumya Wetland Migratory Bird Reserve as their first two Flyway Network Sites in the EAAF.
In recent years, the DPR Korea has been increasingly active in collaborating with international organizations to identify priority areas for the conservation of migratory waterbirds through survey and monitoring projects along their coastal and inland wetlands. The country has also initiated an inventory of their countries’ wetlands which will yield important information on the biodiversity of those areas and the services that they provide for people.
In 2018, the DPR Korea has also acceded to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and they have designated the Mundok Migratory Bird Reserve and Rason Migratory Bird Reserve as their first two Ramsar Sites. The Convention will come into force in the DPR Korea on 16 May 2018 when the country will become the 170th Contracting Party to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
The Mundok Migratory Bird Reserve is internationally important for supporting globally threatened waterbirds during their annual migration along the EAAF. The reserve has a visitor centre and in recent years, has been developing a programme to raise awareness of the importance of migratory waterbirds and their habitats.
Through joining the EAAFP, the DPR Korea will be able to work closely with EAAFP Partners on a variety of programmes to support their efforts to strengthen the work on the conservation of migratory waterbirds and the management of their habitats so as to benefit both people and the environment. This will include efforts along the coast of the Yellow Sea region where large areas of important tidal-flat habitat still remains.
On 16 May 2018, the Chief Executive of EAAFP, Dr. Lew Young, will attend the “National Workshop on the Conservation and Wise Use of Wetland” and “World Migratory Bird Day Ceremony” in Pyongyang (DPR Korea), to celebrate the accession of the DPR Korea to the Ramsar Convention on Wetland and the country’s joining as a Partner to the EAAFP.
About East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP)
In 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, the Governments of Japan and Australia, together with Wetlands International, successfully proposed a Type II Partnership for the conservation and sustainable use of sites of international importance for migratory waterbirds in East Asia, South East Asia and Australasia. The Partnership was included in the list of WSSD Type II initiatives.
On 2 November 2006, this initiative was formally launched as the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), with the goal to recognize and conserve migratory waterbirds and their habitats in the East Asian – Australasian Flyway for the benefit of people and biodiversity. The EAAFP would be an informal and voluntary partnership.
There are currently 36 Partners including 17 countries, 6 intergovernmental agencies, 11 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and 1 international private enterprise.
The East Asian-Australasian Migratory Waterbird Flyway (EAAF) is one of nine major migratory routes around the world The EAAF encompasses 22 countries, from the Russia Far East and Alaska, southwards through East Asia and South-east Asia, to Australia and New Zealand. The EAAF is home to over 50 million migratory waterbirds from over 250 different populations, including 32 globally threatened species and 19 Near Threatened species.
Contact:
For the enquiries about this press release with any of the delegates, please contact Hyeseon Do on +82 32 458 6503 or on email at programme@eaaflyway.net
Additional Note: Although a long-time active supporter and promoter of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (working on several species that are the foci of Task Forces), Birds Korea is not (yet!) a partner to the EAAFP. However, since 2014 we have worked closely with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (Korea), which is a partner to the EAAFP, on bird and habitat research and conservation in the DPRK, conducting surveys at Rason (first in March 2014) and Mundok (which was first surveyed as part of an international program back in 2005 and by the Miranda Naturalist’s Trust with the domestic NCUK in 2009; and subsequently by multiple research efforts) and presenting at meetings focused on biodiversity and wetland conservation.