Last December, despite the difficulties associated with the COVID 19 epidemic, thanks to the collaboration between OFB (French Biodiversity Agency), Tour du Valat and their Sudanese partners in the framework of the RESSOURCE Project [1], a mission has been carried out in Sudan. Activities have been done to support waterbirds conservation and their habitats. This project, co-funded by FFEM and EU and coordinated by FAO, contributes to the strategic objectives of the AEWA [2] and Ramsar international conventions [3].
With this help of the Birdlife Partner in Tunisia [4] (AAO), the international importance of an Inner delta, the Khor Abu Habil, located both in White Nile and North Kordofan states, was submitted to the National Ramsar Committee for Ramsar designation.
Since 2010, OFB (French Biodiversity Agency) and Tour du Valat – in cooperation the Wildlife Conservation General Administration, the Sudanese Wildife Society (NGO), universities and the Wildlife Research Center – have carried out numerous field missions. Conducted as part of the IWC [5] Sudanese scheme, these field missions assessed the importance of one hundred wetlands. Amongst them, the Inner Delta of the Khor Abu Habil, a temporary river flowing down from the Nuba Mountains, meets several criteria of international importance according the Ramsar Convention.
Another objective of the mission was the shooting of a short film (Director: Alizée Chiappini [6]), co-funded by the François Sommer Foundation [7] and the French Ministry of Ecological Transition. The film will present the steps involved in assessment and designation of a wetland of international importance in a didactic way. The film crew captured the beauty and richness of the area, as well as traditional activities linked to its almost natural functioning.
A meeting with the local stakeholders has been held in Tendelti, where the designation proposal has been well received.
OFB and Tour du Valat, via the RESSOURCE project, will continue to support the Sudanese partners in the process of designating the Khor Abu Habil area as a wetland of international Importance, particularly for its natural functioning and its richnessof migratory waterbirds.
Contact : Clémence Deschamps [8] – Project Leader – AEWA African Initiative Technical Support Unit (e-mail [9])