The Migratory Birds for People (MBP) programme is about 30 wetland visitor centres across Europe and West Africa in a network that follows the flight path of many migratory wetland birds species.
These centres are working together to share best practice and develop new approaches to delivering wetland messages to their visitors. We have an strategy plan MBP programme 1811 and the MBP Mission visual update 2018 that will help you understand what the programme aims to do, an MBP workplan 2020-21, and a summary action plan poster to which you can add your details.
The lead group for the project consists of the Dutch Staatsbosbeheer, WLI, and Wetlands International. We are also working with partners across Europe and Africa. Please see the contacts list for details.
Optics for Africa
Where possible, MBP visitor centres in Europe collect binoculars and telescopes and share them with members in West Africa.
First handover!
Adil Boulahia of WWT hands over 12 sets of binoculars to Ibrahim Hama of Wetlands International West Africa. WWT Slimbridge donated this first batch of optics in October 2019.
We invite any member centre to participate! Find out how.
Social media guidelines
Together with partners Eurosite we produced an introductory guide to using social media at wetland visitor centres and nature reserves. In 2021 we are adding a second volume of more advanced questions.
Educational Map
Discover the East Atlantic Flyway through games! The MBP flyway map is an educational resource developed by MBP members, a fabric map of 2 x 1.5 metres. You can download a free guidebook of activities, compiled by the network.
Map of the “Migratory Birds for People”- network
You may click on the map (2017) in order to enlarge it on screen.
See our new poster (left, version for Naturum Getterön, Sweden) that can be tailored to your own centres – we can provide the design file (publisher) for you to add your own logo, pictures and examples, for display at your centre. Just contact Chris Rostron to arrange for us to send it to you.
On the right is our updated map, thanks to Theo de Bruin and Edorta Unamuno for producing it.
Newsletter, films, coordination and meetings
Regular newsletters are produced by Roelof Heringa, one of the lead members of the project. They give updates on meetings, project development, and partner news: subscribe here. We also have a Facebook page. and Instagram page, please ‘like’ MBP if you are interested!
Finally, we have a promotional video created by a volunteer of ours, which you can find in Arabic, Basque, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Luxembourgish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. These are all on YouTube for use with your wetland conservation projects.
Annual meetings
2021
Our 2021 annual meeting will be online, via Zoom. MBP members can join on the afternoons of October 11 and 12. We will have our usual review of the past year and planning for the next, as well as presentations from MBP members and inspirational external groups.
This meeting will have full simultaneous interpretation between French and English.
2020
In 2020 we held our first virtual Annual Meeting. On 12 November we met, as usual, to review the past year, and plan for the next one, but we even managed some online birding!
The meeting report summarises the presentations from members and guests, and links to recordings and PowerPoints from the meeting.
2019
Twenty MBP colleagues gathered at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, in October 2019 to review the past year and plan for the next. Here’s the summary, with some photos, or read the full meeting report here.
2018
This meeting took place at the Maison du Lac de Grand Lieu, near Nantes, France from the 24th to the 27th of September 2018. To see the summary report of the meeting, please click here. For some feedback from some of the participants here’s what said they would be taking home to their wetlands centres and organisations.
MBP News
MBP Annual Meeting 2021
All MBP members are invited to our annual meeting for 2021. We will meet online, between 13.30 and 17.00 CET on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 October. The meeting will be in English with simultaneous interpretation into French. On Monday, we will have presentations from MBP members and a selection of external organisations. We will…
MBP at World Conservation Congress!
Our work in the East Atlantic Flyway will be celebrated at the World Conservation Congress. As well as an introduction to Migratory Birds for People (MBP), attendees and viewers will also learn about our scheme to get binoculars and telescopes to wetland educators in West Africa. With partner Wetlands International West Africa’s Ibrahim Hama taking…
East Atlantic Flyway Youth Forum
The youth environmental movement is embracing wetlands with a regional forum for the East Atlantic Flyway! Hosted by Youth Engaged in Wetlands, the Migratory Birds for People Programme, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, and the International Wadden Sea School, under the theme “Taking off #ForNature from Africa to the Arctic“,…
New guide to activities about bird migration
In 2019, Migratory Birds for People, the network of wetland educators on the East Atlantic Flyway, marked its tenth anniversary with a special educational project. Together, we produced a huge fabric map showing the wetlands in the network, and five bird species that visit them. Following an interruption to the network in 2020, we have…
News from East Atlantic Flyway
The latest Newsletter from Migratory Birds for People is now online! With articles from up and down the East Atlantic Flyway, download the PDF to learn how our peers have been keeping visitors safe when visiting their centres: Sensory and fun outdoor activities for kids 2021 Species year – trying to count 2021 species of…
WWD 2021 at Biodiversum, Luxembourg
To celebrate the Ramsar Conventions’ 50th anniversary, BirdLife Luxembourg and Biodiversum Nature Centre were invited by RTL Radio to speak about the Ramsar Convention, wetlands and their conservation in Luxembourg and worldwide. World Wetlands Day was the ideal time. Visits to wetlands were postponed due to current health restrictions, so these interviews were a great…
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