MBP Annual Meeting at EVOA 2023!
EVOA and Companhia das Lezírias hosted the meeting superbly at the start of October.
As in other Europe-based meetings, participants struggled to get visas, however two African members were present: Bose Kosemani of Lekki Conservation Centre in Nigeria, and Emmanuel Taye of the University of Accra.
The meeting consisted of hybrid meetings to review our work and plan for the future; and activities to share best practice and perspectives across the flyway. 'finding synergies' and 'learning by doing' were underlying principles.
Pedro Henriques shared two bird ringing sessions, and a visit to the mist nets. One ringing session was with passerines, one with ducks.
This put bird ringing foremost in our minds as a topic for our science communications. We revisited the video Patric Lorgé made for the network showing bird ringing.
EVOA sits within the Tagus estuary, and part of a large diversified agri-business estate called Companhia Lezírias. So we experienced not just the visitor centre and the reserve, but also rice fields, vineyards, stables, salt pans, and eco-tourist accommodation in a cork oak forest.
Jose Alvarez met us in a rice field, owned by the Companhia das Lezírias. He introduced an EU Life Programme project for godwits, visualising the habitats and management options.
The Wadden Sea will host a capacity building meeting in 2024, provided there is availability of accommodation.
We will publish a full meeting report on the MBP website in the coming weeks.
Thank you to everyone at EVOA and CL for your fantastic hosting and huge effort in preparing and running the meeting!