BirdLife International partner – Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM)

Established in 1947, WESM is the oldest conservation NGO in Malawi championing environmental education, natural resource management, conservation and research. It is a membership-based organisation that helped in the establishment of major National Parks in Malawi. It holds historical biodiversity data, conducts research that informs national policy and is BirdLife International’s partner in Malawi.  

The African-Eurasian Flyway stretches from the Arctic to southern Africa and is one of four major global migration routes for birds. Often described as ‘avian superhighways’, these pathways are traversed by billions of birds each year, including species like Egyptian Vulture, Steppe Eagle, and Sociable Lapwing. 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.  

ERF’s support of WESM is part of their £7.5 million grant to BirdLife International’s African-Eurasian Flyway grant which supports habitat restoration and protection work in Romania, Bulgaria, Iraq, Jordan, Uganda, Malawi and Zimbabwe, alongside efforts to grow nature-based economies and jobs. It will also strengthen rapid-response action against harmful developments and help operationalise the ground-breaking collaboration between BirdLife and the World Bank.