Sustainable water bird management for food security

 

Photo credit: UN News Centre

A flock of Ruffs in central Sudan. Birds are crucial for food security for the local populations. Photo: FAO/ONCFS

Sahel: UN and French conservation group partner on sustainable water bird management for food security

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) today announced a new partnership with the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), aiming at adopting sustainable water bird hunting management to protect wetland resources in Africa’s Sahel region which are crucial for food security and economic development.

“Our goal is to adapt water bird hunting by promoting sustainable hunting management and bird conservation policies which will benefit those local communities who rely on birds for their livelihoods,” Eva Muller, Director of FAO’s Forestry Policy and Resources Division, said in a new release.

The newly-signed agreement between FAO and FFEM will co-fund one third of the five million euros project, specifically targeting the following main wetlands in the Sahel region: Chad, Egypt, Mali, Senegal and Sudan.

The ‘Strengthening expertise in Sub -Saharan Africa on birds and their rational use for communities and their environment’ (RESSOURCE) project will focus on wetlands situated in the Senegal River Valley, Inner Niger Delta, Lake Chad and the lower and middle reaches of the Nile.

These are ecosystem sites of critical importance where the food security and livelihoods of nearly a billion people depend on agriculture, livestock and natural resource use, including fishing and bird hunting, said FAO.

Read the full article: UN News Centre