On the occasion of the publication of the Wetlands 2022 synthesis, a webinar presenting this monitoring of the status of wintering waterbird populations was organized by LPO/BirdLife France. The Tour du Valat was invited to present several projects showing the usefulness of this system for research and conservation.
Coordinated in France by the LPO on behalf of Wetlands International at the international level, this census, started in 1967 for anatidae and coots and then extended to a larger number of species, allows each year to evaluate in a participative way the state and the progression of waterbird populations on the five continents.
This census is always carried out around mid-January (15 and 16 January in 2022), the time when most waterbirds in the northern hemisphere are on their wintering sites, where their concentration allows an easy count
In France, by mid-January 2022, more than 1,500 volunteer counters had taken part in counting waterbirds in more than 500 wetlands throughout the country.
With 2,611,435 waterbirds counted in this latest edition, the number of birds counted in France in mid-January 2022 is slightly down.
The Camargue is once again the site with the highest number of waterbirds in 2022 (193,121 individuals), with a majority of Anatidae.
Reference
GIRARD T. (2022). Comptage Wetlands International – Bilan régional Provence-AlpesCôte d’Azur 2022. LPO PACA/DREAL PACA, Faune-PACA Publication n°114 : 46 p.
Webinar
On the occasion of the publication of the Wetlands 2022 synthesis, LPO/BirdLife France organized on October 26, 2022, a webinar [1] to present the protocol and the organization of this historical monitoring of the avifauna, to help interpret the various results presented in the report and to understand the usefulness of this device for the research and the conservation of wintering waterbird species at different scales.
During this webinar, the Tour du Valat gave 3 presentations:
- General presentation of the Mediterranean Waterbird Network by Laura Dami (Coordinator of the Mediterranean Waterbird Network at Tour du Valat)
- Role of protected areas in helping waterbirds adapt to global warming by Elie Gaget (former PhD student at Tour du Valat and post-doctoral fellow at the University of Turku)
- The insufficient protection of wetlands of international importance for waterbirds in the Mediterranean by Fabien Verniest (PhD student MNHN – Tour du Valat)
The entire webinar is available for replay [2]