Abu Dhabi, Wetlands opens new online portal for waterbird populations 

ABU DHABI: The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Wetlands International have launched the Waterbird Populations Portal (WPP), an online interactive platform containing the most recent data on the status and distribution of the world’s waterbird populations, reported WAM on Tuesday.

EAD provided financial support for the development of the portal, which was launched at a global webinar, organised by Wetlands International in partnership with the agency.

With over 870 waterbird species, the newly launched Waterbird Populations Portal will provide the latest population size estimates and trends of over 2,500 populations. These range from the Greater Flamingos, which are regularly seen in the coastal and inland wetlands of the UAE, and the Sarus Crane that stands at over 1.5m tall, making it the tallest flying bird inhabiting wetlands and rice fields in South East Asia and Australia.

It also includes other waterbirds species from Sandpipers to Plovers, including the Crab Plover, which is currently breeding on two of Abu Dhabi’s offshore islands. Conservation of all these species requires easily accessible information on their status and trends to help governments and people take action.

The portal will be useful for users, ranging from governments to scientists and conservationists, in the UAE and across the globe

The WPP provides links to 160 threatened waterbird species, as per the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It will also support the development and actions of the Ramsar Convention, the Convention on Migratory Species, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as major regional/flyway initiatives.

The new portal replaces the Waterbird Population Estimates Portal that was launched at the Ramsar Conference in 2012 and was intensively used by governments, NGOs, researchers, and others from around the world over the last decade.