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
Planning advanced social media guide
Migratory Birds for People and Eurosite are teaming-up to produce an advanced guide to social media for wetland centres and nature reserve managers. We want your input now, to help make the guide as relevant as possible! MBP members, please take part in this 3-minute survey; let us know what you would like to learn…
MBP Annual Meeting 2020
Our East Atlantic Flyway initiative, Migratory Birds for People, will hold an online annual meeting on 12 November 2020. Since we cannot travel to a member visitor centre to meet in person, we will have a different format but still meet the core needs of the network as best as the internet can offer. So,…
Following Sandwich terns oversea
Wageningen Marine Research 31-May-2020 – How do Sandwich Terns fly over the North Sea and the Wadden Sea? And where exactly do they catch their fish? Scientists from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and the University of Amsterdam are trying to map the flight and foraging behaviour of large Terns by equipping fifteen Texel birds…
Finima Nature Park’s World Wetlands Day 2020
Finima Nature Park joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Wetlands Day 2020 through three days of events. Day One The event kicked off on the 29th of January, 2020 with a discussion session led by Miss Grace Alawa, a lecturer from the Department of Zoology, River State University of Science and Technology. Different stakeholders…
World Migratory Bird Day 2020
Birds connect our world! And every year, we connect school children in video conferences and visits to their wetland centres. In May and October 2020, school children around the world will have the chance to visit their local wetland centre and then tell other children all about it by video conference! The questions we will…
Feeling younger everyday! Urdaibai Bird Center and old people’s homes project
The active aging project being run by Urdaibai Bird Center and Arrotegi Rest Home is in full swing in Busturia. It´s proving not only to be active and engaging for the participants, but also rejuvenating. They are becoming real scientific researchers! The residents are taking part in “Garden Birds”, a project which helps people get…
Join WLI free and create your own member profile showcasing the work you are doing.