Assessing the effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention in preserving wintering waterbirds in the Mediterranean

Gaget, Élie; Viol, Isabelle Le; Pavón‐Jordán, Diego; Cazalis, Victor; Kerbiriou, Christian; Jiguet, Frédéric; Popoff, Nadège; Dami, Laura; Mondain‐Monval, Jean‐Yves; Rau, Pierre Defos du; Abdou, Web; Božič, Luca; Dakki, Mohamed; Encarnação, Vítor; Erciyas-Yavuz, Kiraz; Etayeb, Khaled; Molina, Blas; Petkov, Nicky; Uzunova, Danka; Zenatello, Marco; Galewski, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108485

Cited by 39 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…This can be done by increasing the area and number of Ramsar Sites; improving representativeness (geographically, functionally, biologically); and implementing effective adaptive management. These issues areas are not new (e.g., Davidson et al, 2019;Davidson et al, 2020;Gaget et al, 2020), undermining the goals and targets of the Ramsar Strategic Plan (Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance–Improving Conservation Outcomes

Kingsford

Bino

Finlayson

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The Ramsar Convention (or the Convention on Wetlands), signed in 1971, was one of the first international conservation agreements, promoting global wise use of wetlands. It has three primary objectives: national designation and management of wetlands of international importance; general wise use of wetlands; and international cooperation. We examined lessons learnt for improving wetland conservation after Ramsar’s nearly five decades of operation. The number of wetlands in the Ramsar Site Network has grown over time (2,391 Ramsar Sites, 2.5 million km2, as at 2020-06-09) but unevenly around the world, with decreasing rate of growth in recent decades. Ramsar Sites are concentrated in countries with a high Gross Domestic Product and human pressure (e.g., western Europe) but, in contrast, Ramsar Sites with the largest wetland extent are in central-west Africa and South America. We identified three key challenges for improving effectiveness of the Ramsar Site Network: increasing number of sites and wetland area, improved representation (functional, geographical and biological); and effective management and reporting. Increasing the number of sites and area in the Ramsar network could benefit from targets, implemented at national scales. Knowledge of representativeness is inadequate, requiring analyses of functional ecotypes, geographical and biological representativeness. Finally, most countries have inadequate management planning and reporting on the ecological character of their Ramsar Sites, requiring more focused attention on a vision and objectives, with regular reporting of key indicators to guide management. There are increasing opportunities to rigorously track ecological character, utilizing new tools and available indicators (e.g., remote sensing). It is critical that the world protect its wetlands, with an effective Ramsar Convention or the Convention on Wetlands at the core.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance–Improving Conservation Outcomes

Kingsford

Bino

Finlayson

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…We introduce here a new index of species’ sensitivity to anthropogenic land use changes (as measured through the human footprint), derived from field data on the variation of species’ abundance over their distributions. We focused on the breeding grounds, but the same methods can be applied to estimate sensitivity during other parts of the species’ annual cycle (which may also present important conservation challenges; e.g., Runge et al, 2015; Gaget et al, 2020) as species sensitivity probably varies with season. Even though adequate field data are not available for the vast majority of species in most regions, citizen science datasets (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mismatch between bird species sensitivity and the protection of intact habitats across the Americas

Cazalis

Barnes

Johnston

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Protected areas, the most prevalent international policy mechanism for biodiversity conservation, are highly heterogeneous in their effectiveness at buffering ecosystems and species' habitats from human pressure. Protected areas with intense human pressure cannot protect species that are highly sensitive to human activities. Here, we use 60 million bird observations from the eBird citizen science platform to estimate the sensitivity to human pressure of each bird species breeding in the Americas (Nearctic and Neotropical regions). We find that high-sensitivity species, while found in all ecoregions, are concentrated in the tropical biomes. Ecoregions with large proportions of high-sensitivity species do not have more intact protected habitat, resulting in a low coverage of intact protected habitat for many high-sensitivity species. What is more, 139 high-sensitivity species have little or no intact protected habitat within their distributions while being threatened with extinction. Finally, we show that protected area intactness is decreasing faster in ecoregions with many high-sensitivity species. Our results highlight a major mismatch between species conservation needs and the coverage of intact protected habitats, and will likely hamper the long-term effectiveness of protected areas at retaining species. We highlight ecoregions where the protection and management of intact habitats, complemented by the restoration of degraded ones, is urgently needed to avoid extinctions.

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“…Because of the flooded area, the dominant group of avifauna species belongs to the wetland complex. Habitat monitoring and the importance of protected areas inhabited mainly by wintering species of aquatic birds has been studied and confirmed by scientists from different countries (Musilová et al, 2018;Gaget et al, 2020;Pavón-Jordán et al, 2020). In the same territories, the composition of migrants can change every few years (Ponomarenko, 2005;Bulakhov et al, 2009.…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 96%

Biodiversity of the Regional Landscape Park Samara Plavni within the first large reservoir in Europe Biodiversity of the Regional Landscape Park Samara Plavni within the first large reservoir in Europe

et al. 2021

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The creation of reservoirs in river valleys for the accumulation of fresh water has been and remains an important issue around the world. This process has both positive and negative consequences for people and nature. Significant changes in the regime of rivers and their valleys, flooding of meadows and forests, flooding of soils and changes in the composition of flora and fauna of adjacent territories are taking place. In this article, we consider the restoration of the biodiversity of a site of disturbed lands after the creation of one of the first large reservoirs in Europe – the Dnieper (Zaporozhe) on the River Dnieper, which has existed since 1933. The territory of the Samara floodplains was formed on the floodplain of the mouth of the Samara River, as a result of which the territories of various forest, meadow and bog biotopes were flooded. For almost 90 years, new biotopes have been developing, and populations of plant and animal species, especially waterfowl, have been renewed and enriched. In the conditions of climate change and anthropogenic pressure, the existence of this territory has fallen into question. To control the conservation of biodiversity, it is necessary to apply various management methods, one of which is creation of nature reserves. The article presents the results of a complex of scientific studies that were carried out during the zoning of the regional park Samara Plavni to improve the management of the protection of water areas and river banks. We have investigated: hydrological features, species diversity of the flora and coenotic diversity of the vegetation, fauna of aquatic invertebrates, and terrestrial vertebrates. Zoning of the Regional Landscape Park was based on the composition of stable components of ecosystems. When applying the protected regime in different zones, conditions will be created for the preservation of habitats of species, including those protected in Europe: higher plants (Senecio borysthenicus (DC.) Andrz. ex Czern., Tragopogon borystenicus Artemcz.), reptiles (Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758), Vipera renardi (Christoph, 1861)), birds (Aythya ferina (Linnaeus, 1758), Vanellus vanellus (Linnaeus, 1758), Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758, Numenius arquata (Linnaeus, 1758), Alcedo atthis (Linnaeus, 1758), Lanius excubitor (Linnaeus, 1758)), mammals (Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758)). Such changes would increase the implementation of the reproductive potential of all species without exception in the studied ecosystems.

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Assessing the effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention in preserving wintering waterbirds in the Mediterranean

Cited by 39 publications

References 46 publications

Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance–Improving Conservation Outcomes

Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance–Improving Conservation Outcomes

Mismatch between bird species sensitivity and the protection of intact habitats across the Americas

Biodiversity of the Regional Landscape Park Samara Plavni within the first large reservoir in Europe Biodiversity of the Regional Landscape Park Samara Plavni within the first large reservoir in Europe

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