Speech at the presentation event of 'Waterbirds Around the World'

Toespraak | 13-03-2007

Ladies and gentlemen,

Once again a warm welcome to you all, especially the Right Honorable Barry Gardiner, MP (Member of Parliament), who as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is my UK counterpart on biodiversity issues.

I am very pleased, ladies and gentlemen, that one of my first public appearances as Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality touches upon a subject of great importance: the preservation and protection of biodiversity. For the new Dutch government, sworn in just two-and-a-half weeks ago, is strongly committed to the idea of sustainability, of leaving a better, cleaner world to our children and grandchildren. Biodiversity, naturally, plays an important role in that process.

As organizers of the biggest international conference on migratory birds in history – Waterbirds Around The World, held in Edinburgh in April, 2004 – you’ve made a giant stride towards a better understanding of the issues surrounding biodiversity, because the fate of migratory birds closely mirrors that of biodiversity as a whole.

The hefty tome you presented to me moments ago highlights the sheer complexity of preserving and protecting migratory birds on a global scale; in addition, it summarizes the available knowledge on the subject.

This book comes almost three years after the Edinburgh conference. Now, pessimists might howl that there is no sense of urgency, that three years have been wasted; since 2004, according to these conference proceedings, many nature areas critical to migratory birds have further deteriorated in size and quality; moreover, the number of migratory species worldwide is still going down.

Optimists have, by nature, a more favourable outlook. They will note that publication of Waterbirds Around the World is an important milestone in our quest to preserve and protect migratory birds because of its almost encyclopaedic review of the knowledge currently available on worldwide bird migrations. And knowledge is a key factor if we want to act effectively and decisively.

I am pleased to note that Dutch research organizations such as Alterra and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology have made substantial contributions to the tremendous international effort to collate information on bird migration.

For the sake of brevity, I will mention only two examples: the Netherlands Institute of Ecology hosted the international bird ringing program EURING for a long time before it moved to the UK a few years ago. And Alterra has been up to its neck in research into the migratory patterns of Arctic waders and geese.

Data generated from these research activities proved their worth during the recent outbreak of avian influenza – a shining example of how research efforts primarily suited to nature conservation may serve far wider purposes, in this case those of animal and human health – an issue for which we all share responsibility, in Europe and beyond.

Knowledge is important, and so is co-operation – another major concern of the incoming Dutch government, by the way.

For while knowledge helps us in setting our priorities, co-operation will ensure that we’re able to make things happen. A wonderful example was the conference in 2004, where Wetlands International, Scottish National Heritage, the UK government and many donor countries, among them the Netherlands, managed to jointly stage a breakthrough event.

Ladies and gentlemen!

A moment ago I mentioned priorities. Setting them is important, for I think that if we want to tackle all the problems, issues and challenges at the same time, we’ll end up with empty hands. Waterbirds Around the World will help decision makers like me in setting the right priorities. Allow me to list a few of them, taken from the Dutch context.

We will of course continue to safeguard our major bird sanctuaries. Just like the other EU member states, the Netherlands has acknowledged its responsibility for building and protecting a network of nature reserves – I am referring to Natura 2000. Most of those areas in the Netherlands are wetlands and coastal waters that are of the utmost importance to migratory birds.

Further out to sea, outside our territorial waters, a lot remains to be done; most of the goals set by Natura 2000 have yet to be met. I assure you that we are working hard on this, and I expect the first Dutch proposals regarding the open sea will be presented in Brussels in the course of 2008.

But these Dutch measures and plans will not be enough. Birds, it is often noted, don’t respect boundaries. And wonderful sanctuaries in the Netherlands will have little impact if they’re not part of a network of similar areas up and down the line.

That is why we are actively pursuing a meaningful, effective dialogue with all our partners in, for instance, the African Eurasian Waterbirds Agreement (AEWA); it covers the flyway system between the Siberian tundras and South Africa in which the Netherlands is such an important staging post.

I would like to emphasize that such effective co-operation is only feasible if each and every country along a given flyway is a full partner in the relevant flyway agreement.

Regrettably, not all of them are. Therefore, I will strongly support further initiatives by AEWA's mother convention – the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species – to extend its membership worldwide and to establish arrangements for migratory birds similar to AEWA in other parts of the world.

This is what we're doing in diplomatic meeting rooms in capitals around the world. But we are also, I am pleased to note, active in the field. We are supporting projects along the whole length of the East Atlantic flyway, from its origin in Siberia – where we co-operate with the Russians on the conservation of Arctic waterbirds – to its end in West Africa, where we are working with local governments and organizations in the immense Inner Niger Delta in Mali.

Ladies and gentlemen!

In conclusion, let me, without belittling the contribution of many others, lavishly praise Wetlands International and the UK government for all the work they've done: they took the lead in organizing the Edinburgh conference in 2004. The result is that bird migration is now firmly embedded in the global policy agenda. The proceedings, all 950 pages of them, will only strengthen that position.

I hope and expect that other stakeholders around the world, from governments to NGOs, will follow your example. If not for our own sake, then for that of our children and grandchildren.

Thank you.