Central African Republic Accedes to AEWA as Party No. 78
The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat in Bonn is pleased to announce the accession of the Central African Republic as AEWA’s 78th Party. The country’s membership to the Agreement took effect on 1 January.
This is the second Instrument of the Convention on Migratory Species to which the Central African Republic has adhered, considering that it is already a party to the CMS Gorillas Agreement.
The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat, on behalf of the Parties to the Agreement, warmly welcomes the Central African Republic to the AEWA Family and looks forward to working closely with the Government as well as other national stakeholders to support conservation efforts for the benefit of migratory waterbirds and their habitats.
The Central African Republic is a landlocked country in the heart of the continent. The country has an area of just over 620,000 km2 and a population of 4.6 million (2016 estimates); the capital is Bangui. The country’s terrain is dominated by savanna but also includes desert in the north and equatorial forest in the south. It consists of a vast plateau which forms watershed between the Congo and Chari river systems and constitutes the two principal river basin systems. These contribute to the large and diverse avifauna.
A total of 791 bird species are known to occur in the Central African Republic, including some 77 out of the 255 migratory waterbird species covered under AEWA. The Manovo-Gounda-Saint-Floris National Park located in the north of the country is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list and hosts some 418 species of birds.