International workshop: Aquatic Warbler on the move

The two-day event, organised by LIFE AWOM (Aquatic Warblers on the Move), brought together 14 organisations from Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, and Senegal, along with conservation experts, institutions, and stakeholders. Its aim was to coordinate efforts to protect the Aquatic Warbler—Europe’s rarest migratory songbird—by improving the management of key wetland habitats across its 12,000 km migratory route. The workshop addressed international collaboration, wetland restoration, and stakeholder engagement to support long-term conservation outcomes.

The forum served as a platform for sharing the latest research on the species’ status, lessons from ongoing and past LIFE projects, and strategies for habitat restoration in both staging and wintering areas. It also explored the role of policy frameworks, legal tools, and funding mechanisms in sustaining conservation efforts. With presentations covering each region along the bird’s flyway, from Eastern Europe to West Africa, the event supported the project’s broader objectives of enhancing climate resilience, water retention, and biodiversity through nature-based solutions at 20 priority wetland sites.