By Peter Prokosch
In April this year, experts from nine countries met on Hallig Langeneß in the Wadden Sea for the “East Atlantic Flyway Week”, organised by LT&C, WWF, and Schutzstation Wattenmeer.
They reviewed 50 years of conservation successes along this migration route of coastal birds and outlined a book about these exciting stories of the time. October 22, the German edition of the book was presented at the “Vogelzugfest” in Horumersiel at the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park.
In the Schleswig-Holstein part of the international Wadden Sea, we had a book presentation with friends and former colleagues a few days after in Husum. Commonly, we remember specific moments on the way to protected areas in the Wadden Sea and its status today as a World Heritage Site. Several stories in the book describe how protected areas were achieved on the West coast of Africa, Europe and within the Arctic. Both, the Wadden Sea and Svalbard, are also known as LT&C-Examples.
Anyone interested in reading more about 50 years of exciting moments in nature conservation and coastal bird research along the entire flyway can order the German edition of the book from anywhere in the world. Or find it in your local bookshop in Germany. It may also be an ideal (Christmas) present for those whom you want to make interested in fascinating birds and nature conservation.
An English edition is in preparation and should appear in March 2024 at Lynx Nature Books in Spain.
How the Aula Verlag introduced the book:
One of the most spectacular and longest migration routes for shorebirds is the “East Atlantic Flyway”, on which Knots, Bar-tailed Godwits, Brent Geese & Co. cover up to 16,000 kilometres – twice a year!
But what do we know about the marathon flights of these birds? How do they manage to perform such tremendous physical feats?
A group of renowned researchers have been working intensively on these questions for decades and have found astonishing things about the migration strategies of shorebirds. One thing became increasingly clear: the Wadden Sea on the North Sea coast of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark is a vital food and energy refuelling station and, thus, the “strategic hub” for millions of shorebirds!
Based on this knowledge, unprecedented joint efforts have created a “string of pearls” of necessary protection zones along this fascinating migration route.
This book not only provides exciting insights into the migration strategies of shorebirds but also allows an intensive look at the stations of their long journey to the African wintering and arctic breeding grounds.
Finally, it also highlights what international friendships and the intensive exchange of wader and goose researchers can achieve in nature and species conservation.
