Asian Waterbird Conservation Fund

The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...

Zimbabwe

CONSERVATION THROUGH EMPOWERMENT AND COLLABORATION

The Asian Waterbird Conservation Fund (AWCF) was established by WWF-Hong Kong in July 2005 to provide financial support for projects at sites of importance for migratory waterbirds (including seabirds) in Asia of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAF). In late 2019, the AWCF was reformed and two new grants, the WWF Dr Lew Young Grant and the Asian Flyways Initiative Grant (AFI Grant), were set up to extend the support from the EAAF to the Central Asian Flyway (CAF). The goal of the two new Grants is to support projects on the ground in Asia that will lead to the conservation of migratory waterbirds and their habitats in the EAAF and CAF, particularly through partnership with the local community at the site.

Since its inception, it has supported more than 50 projects with far-reaching impact including:

Training workshops in Mongolia, China, Thailand and Indonesia to improve waterbird monitoring skills of students, local NGOs, local communities, new surveyors and government officials.
Regular monitoring work confirmed important sites for waterbirds in Kamchatka (Russia), Rudong (China), Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) and Deli Serdang (North Sumatra).
Awareness-raising activities – in the form of talks, exhibitions, workshops and field trips – benefited over 14,000 local communities and over 8,000 students and teachers.
High involvement amongst the local community provides better protection for waterbirds. Locals would report cases of bird hunting and local hunters signed an agreement to protect waterbirds.
Immediate increases in breeding success were observed in red-crowned crane at Huihe National Nature Reserve in Inner Mongolia; and swan geese and white-naped crane at Daursky State Nature Reserve in Russia.
The fund also helped places like Dashinchilen Tsagaan Wetlands in Mongolia to become an EAAF Network Site.

About the WWF Dr Lew Young Grant

Dr Lew Young was a passionate conservationist dedicated to the conservation of Asia’s wetlands and waterbirds. As part of the WWF-Hong Kong team managing Mai Po Nature Reserve from 1991 to 2008, he was actively involved in the designation of the Mai Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar Site, as well as launched the wetland management training programme and created education programmes for students and visitors.

In 2008, Dr Young was appointed Senior Regional Advisor for Asia and Oceania for the Ramsar Secretariat and provided support on the strategic development and effective implementation of the Convention. Dr Young joined the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership Secretariat as Chief Executive in 2018, during which time he developed the 2019-2028 Strategic Plan and DPR Korea joined both the Ramsar Convention and the Partnership.

On 5 March 2019, Dr. Young passed away while on a work trip to develop conservation actions for the intertidal wetlands of the Yellow Sea in Beijing.

In 2019, WWF-Hong Kong set up the WWF Dr Lew Young Grant in honour of his dedicated work and major contribution to wetland conservation.The maximum amount of the grant is US$10,000 per one-year project.

About the AFI Grant

In 2019, WWF established the Asian Flyways Initiative to coordinate among the various organisations and stakeholders to ensure that both the EAAF and the CAF are conserved so that ecologically connected stepping-stone corridors can be sustained for long-distance migratory birds, and the wetlands are managed for nature and people.

To provide support to the conservation work of wetlands and migratory birds in these two flyways, WWF-Hong Kong established the AFI Grant. The maximum amount is US$5,000 for one-year projects or US$5,000/year for multiple-year projects (2-3 years).

The initiative has been renamed Wetlands for Asian Flyways (WAF), more information about the initiative can be found here.