BirdLife awarded £7.5 million to protect and restore one of the world’s great flyways
A new grant from the Ecological Restoration Fund will support critical conservation efforts at key sites along the African-Eurasian Flyway.
Migratory birds travel vast distances along migratory superhighways, known as flyways, relying on sites across many different countries to complete their journeys. But they are in trouble: one in nine migratory bird species is threatened with extinction, and 45% are in decline. That’s why work to protect the billions of birds using flyways needs to be on a global scale.
This week, we are delighted to announce a new £7.5 million grant from the Ecological Restoration Fund (ERF) to strengthen protection and restoration along the African–Eurasian Flyway. The three-year grant will be used to significantly scale-up conservation efforts, protecting priority flyway sites and landscapes, restoring critical wetlands, strengthening collaboration, and unlocking new forms of transformative finance for nature, climate and people.
On-the-ground initiatives will deliver habitat restoration and protection work in Romania, Bulgaria, Iraq, Jordan, Uganda, Malawi and Zimbabwe, alongside efforts to grow nature-based economies and jobs. The grant will also strengthen rapid-response action against harmful development that threatens key flyway sites, and support the delivery of a ground-breaking collaboration between BirdLife and the World Bank ensuring that flyway conservation is at the forefront of large-scale infrastructure planning, such as for renewable energy, and that new forms of finance are available for the flyway.
“This grant is a major milestone in our efforts to unite and strengthen conservation across borders,” says Martin Harper, CEO of BirdLife International.
“Working with our 80 Partners in the African-Eurasian Flyway, we want to ensure that an ecologically coherent network of sites is protected, managed and restored to make sure that birds can fly free from harm. By protecting the sites that migratory birds need we shall also deliver enormous benefits for people and for the climate. We will do this by mobilising finance, restoring critical habitats, and ensuring new infrastructure is safe for nature. We are incredibly grateful to ERF for supporting our ambition of a world where migratory bird populations are thriving, connecting and inspiring people across countries and continents.”
Header image: White Storks fly over stubble in the Ovce Pole area of Macedonia. © Toshy Trajchev/Shutterstock
“This grant is a major milestone in our efforts to unite and strengthen conservation across borders. We want to ensure that an ecologically coherent network of sites across the African-Eurasian Flyway is protected, managed and restored to make sure that birds can fly free from harm.”
Martin Harper, CEO of birdlife international
“We are delighted to continue our support of BirdLife International’s vital work protecting and restoring sites along the African–Eurasian Flyway, benefitting not only migratory species but also the communities that depend on healthy ecosystems for their livelihoods and wellbeing.”
Lenke Bálint, Executive director at the ecological restoration fund
Strong foundations
The new funding follows the completion of an initial three-year phase of project work in the flyway, delivered by us and our UK Partner, the RSPB, and funded by ERF. This included protecting and restoring key flyway sites, securing UNESCO World Heritage status for Sierra Leone’s Gola Rainforest National Park, and leveraging a further £19 million for habitat restoration in the flyway.
The project also established the new collaboration with the World Bank, aimed at linking biodiversity conservation to sustainable development for the millions of people who depend on healthy flyway ecosystems for food, water, and livelihoods.
A critical migratory corridor
One of the world’s most important migratory bird corridors, this extraordinary global flyway is a critical route linking cultures, landscapes and people across the great continents of Africa, Europe and Asia. Stretching from the Arctic tundra to the very tip of southern Africa, the African-Eurasian Flyway is used by more than 2 billion migratory birds and supports more than 500 species. Countless sites act as critical resting places, stopovers, feeding grounds and nesting locations for birds and are also vital for local people and their communities.
Supporting transformational change
“The African–Eurasian Flyway is one of the world’s great ecological networks, connecting landscapes, cultures and communities across three continents,” says Lenke Bálint, Executive Director at the Ecological Restoration Fund.
“We are delighted to continue our partnership with BirdLife International and support its work to protect and restore critical sites along the flyway. By strengthening conservation across borders, restoring vital wetlands and habitats, and helping to unlock new sources of finance for nature, this programme will benefit not only migratory species but also the communities that depend on healthy ecosystems for their livelihoods and wellbeing.”
ERF supports work that protects areas of high biodiversity value, rejuvenates degraded land and seascapes and ensures good environmental governance. It is committed to re-establishing nature’s essential interconnections while fostering cultural, social and economic opportunities for the communities inhabiting those landscapes.
