Global and regional governmental policy and treaties as tools towards the mitigation of the effect of climate change on waterbirds

Abstract

Climate change will affect the breeding, staging and wintering areas of waterbirds. This may create a problem for the legal protection of important waterbird sites under the present international conventions. We analyse present obligations within a number of international conventions and conservation strategies, and formulate ways to mitigate for the effects of climate change by establishing site conservation within a framework of ecological networks and the overall flyway of species of waterbirds. © 2004 British Ornithologists' Union.