Treaty/Convention Abbreviation Scale of coverage Date of conception Date of ratification Habitat Conservation Protect Wetlands Cover shorebirds Shorebird criteria for site recognition Comments
RAMSAR Convention RAMSAR Global 1971 1975 Yes Yes Yes Yes Recognition and protection of internationally important shorebird sites
Convention of Migratory Species (Bonn) CMS Global 1979 1983
Yes Yes No More specific agreements introduced such as AEWA
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species CITES Global 1973 1975 No No Yes No Aims to protect certain plants and animals by regulating and monitoring their international trade to prevent it reaching unsustainable levels. Over 30,000 species are listed, of which around 25,000 are plants.
World Heritage Convention WHC Global 1972 1975 Yes Limited Limited No Internationally important cultural and natural heritage sites
Convention on Biological Diversity CBD Global 1992
 No Limited Limited No Spawned from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro lists the conservation of biological diversity as a major goal. Endorses major international conventions relating to migratory birds and wetlands
Important Bird Areas (IBAs) IBA Global
Yes Yes Limited No Initiated by Birdlife International, IBA's are sites which have been recognised as being important for globally-threatened or restricted range species, or hold large numbers of migratory species
Global 200
Global
No Ranks the most biologically important habitats relating to a global biodiversity strategy
African-Eurasian Migratory Water Bird Agreement AEWA African-Eurasian flyway 1995 1999
Yes Yes No Introduced under the Bonn Convention. Parties to the agreement are called upon to engage in a wide range of conservation actions for species and their habitats
African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Africa 1969 1974
No No Yet to been properly implemented
Bern Convention
Europe, Northern and Central Asia 1979 1982 Yes Yes Limited No Conservation of Habitats which has lead to further EU Directives, such as SPAs and SACs.
Special Protection Area SPA Europe 1979 1979 Yes Yes Yes Yes The EU Bird Directive. Special attention to protection of wetlands of international importance
Special Areas for Conservation SAC Europe 1992 1992 Yes Yes Limited No The EU Habitat Directive, not specific to birds
Site of Special Scientific Interest SSSI UK
Yes Yes Yes Yes National site designation which has specific criteria for identifying sites. All SPAs and SACs must be designated as SSSI in UK
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network WHSRN American flyway 1985 1985 Yes Yes Yes Yes A highly successful international non-statutory mechanism for raising support and awareness of the importance of key wetland sites on the American wader flyways.
North American Waterfowl Management Plan NAWMP American flyway 1986 1986 Yes Yes Yes No International action plan to conserve migratory birds throughout the continent
Partners in Flight PIF American flyway 1990 1990 No No No No Based on partnerships between interested parties. Improvement of inventory, research, management and education programs involving habitat
US Shorebird Conservation Plan
United States 2000 2000 Yes Yes Yes No Regional conservational strategies for migratory shorebirds and their habitat
North American Bird Conservation Initiative NABCI North America 1999 1999 No No No No Aims to achieve regionally-based, biologically-driven, landscape-orientated partnerships that deliver the full spectrum of bird conservation across North America
Asian-Pacific Migratory Waterbird Conservation Strategy
Asian and Australian Flyways
1996 No No Yes No Initial strategy ran from 1996-2000, then updated to run 2001-2005. Various components developed to promote the conservation of migratory waterbirds within the region.
East Asian-Australasian Shorebird Site Network
East Asian-Australasian Flyway 1996 1996
Yes Yes Highlights the importance of wetland areas for shorebirds and promotes activities for their conservation

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