A new identification guide to waterbirds in Arabic language was presented to the public on Saturday 2 March 2013, during a workshop held in Tunis and organized by the « Les Amis des Oiseaux » Association (AAO).
This book will fill a need in the field of the conservation of waterbirds and wetlands in North Africa, the one to dispose of working tools in Arabic language.
This small pocket guide allows the identification of 200 waterbird species recorded in the region from the North of Sudan to Mauritania, passing through Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Each species is presented with its vernacular Arabaic names used in each of the seven countries, drawings and texts of identification, a map of distribution, as well as information on its regional status.
This guide particularly aims to stimulate the International Waterbird Census in the region, and is a contribution to the implementation of the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) in the African continent. Its publishing was made possible thanks to a close partnership between the AAO and the French Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage (ONCFS) team hosted at the Tour du Valat in Camargue (France), with the financial support of the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, as well as the MAVA Foundation.