Birdlife Iceland – Fuglavernd

BirdLife International is a global partnership of over 100 national conservation organisations working to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, and to promote sustainability in the use of natural resources. Fuglavernd is Birdlife’s Icelandic partner.  

The African-Eurasian Flyway stretches from the Arctic to southern Africa and is one of four major global migration routes for birds. But key sites along the flyway are under threat from habitat loss, illegal hunting, and climate change. Losing these places would have serious consequences for the birds that rely on them to rest, refuel, and breed. Along this highway, low-lying open habitats around Iceland’s coastline support many breeding waterbirds – including 50% of the world’s population of European golden plover, 40% of whimbrel and 20% of redshank. However, it has been degraded by drainage and afforestation.  

This grant supports the re-wetting efforts of several hundred hectares of this degraded habitat, restoring it to its natural state. This benefits birds and other biodiversity, but also contributes to climate change mitigation, as re-wetting converts habitats from carbon sources to carbon sinks.