Aquatic Warblers on the Move

ongoing

The LIFE AWOM project is the first multi-country LIFE project focusing on the staging and wintering areas of the globally threatened aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola (AW) in Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal and Senegal. Together with the also proposed LIFE4AquaticWarbler project (that focuses on the breeding grounds), the two projects are the biggest coordinated initiative so far for the flyway-scale conservation of the species. The LIFE AWOM project will focus developing a comprehensive, coherent and climate resilient flyway site network for the species, which can serve as an example for the systematic site network planning for also other species. At 22 Natura 2000 staging sites in Europe and at one wintering site in Senegal, the project will demonstrate habitat management and restoration techniques for the AW but also for other marshland bird species. These techniques will be relevant not only in the context of the conservation of the AW, but also in the context of climate change mitigation, adaptation and green infrastructure development. The project aims to ensure that its impact is scaled up beyond its target areas by providing input into the development of the national nature restoration plans, the new prioritised action frameworks and new CAP programming documents, as well as working actively on sharing its scientific results with other conservation scientists and technical innovations with other site managers and businesses.