4.1. Hunting

4.1.1. Parties shall cooperate to ensure that their hunting legislation implements the principle of sustainable use as envisaged in this Action Plan, taking into account the full geographical range of the waterbird populations concerned and their life history characteristics.

4.1.2. The Agreement secretariat shall be kept informed by the Parties of their legislation relating to the hunting of populations listed in Table 1.

4.1.3. Parties shall cooperate with a view to developing a reliable and harmonized system for the collection of harvest data in order to assess the annual harvest of populations listed in Table 1. They shall provide the Agreement secretariat with estimates of the total annual take for each population, when available.

4.1.4. Parties shall endeavour to phase out the use of lead shot for hunting in wetlands as soon as possible in accordance with self-imposed and published timetables.

4.1.5. …

4.1.6. Parties shall develop and implement measures to reduce, and as far as possible eliminate, illegal taking.

4.1.7. Where appropriate, Parties shall encourage hunters, at local, national and international levels, to form clubs or organizations to coordinate their activities and to help ensure sustainability.

4.1.8. Parties shall, where appropriate, promote the requirement of a proficiency test for hunters, including among other things, bird identification.

4.2. Eco-tourism

4.2.1. Parties shall encourage, where appropriate but not in the case of core zones of protected areas, the elaboration of cooperative programmes between all concerned to develop sensitive and appropriate eco-tourism at wetlands holding concentrations of populations listed in Table 1.

4.2.2. Parties, in cooperation with competent international organisations, shall endeavour to evaluate the costs, benefits and other consequences that can result from eco-tourism at selected wetlands with concentrations of populations listed in Table 1. They shall communicate the results of any such evaluations to the Agreement secretariat.

4.3. Other Human Activities

4.3.1. Parties shall assess the impact of proposed projects which are likely to lead to conflicts between populations listed in Table 1 that are in the areas referred to in paragraph 3.2 and human interests, and shall make the results of the assessment publicly available.

4.3.2. Parties shall endeavour to gather information on the damage, in particular to crops and to fisheries, caused by populations listed in Table 1, and report the results to the Agreement secretariat.

4.3.3. Parties shall cooperate with a view to identifying appropriate techniques to minimize damage, or to mitigate the effects of damage, in particular to crops and to fisheries, caused by populations listed in Table 1, drawing on the experience gained elsewhere in the world.

4.3.4. Parties shall cooperate with a view to developing single species management plans for populations which cause significant damage, in particular to crops and to fisheries. The Agreement secretariat shall coordinate the development and harmonization of such plans.

4.3.5. Parties shall, as far as possible, promote high environmental standards in the planning and construction of structures to minimize their impact on populations listed in Table 1. They should consider steps to minimize the impact of structures already in existence where it becomes evident that they constitute a negative impact for the populations concerned.

4.3.6. In cases where human disturbance threatens the conservation status of waterbird populations listed in Table 1, Parties should endeavour to take measures to limit the level of threat. Special attention should be given to the problem of human disturbance at breeding colonies of colonially-nesting waterbirds, especially when they are situated in the areas which are popular for outdoor recreation. Appropriate measures might include, inter alia, the establishment of disturbance-free zones in protected areas where public access is not permitted.

4.3.7. Parties are urged to take appropriate actions nationally or through the framework of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and relevant international organisations to minimise the impact of fisheries

4) “fisheries” includes aquaculture and refers to either marine or freshwater fish, crustaceans, and molluscs (e.g. bivalves, gastropods and cephalopods).

on migratory waterbirds, and where possible cooperate within these forums, in order to decrease the mortality in areas within and beyond national jurisdiction; appropriate measures shall especially address incidental killing and bycatch in fishing gear including the use of gill nets, longlines and trawling.

4.3.8. Parties are also urged to take appropriate actions nationally or through the framework of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and relevant international organisations to minimise the impact of fisheries on migratory waterbirds resulting in particular from unsustainable fishing that causes depletion of food resources for migratory waterbirds.

4.3.9. Parties shall establish and effectively enforce adequate statutory pollution controls in accordance with international norms and legal agreements, particularly as related to oil spills, discharge and dumping of solid wastes, for the purpose of minimizing their impacts on the populations listed in Table 1.

4.3.10. Parties shall establish appropriate measures, ideally to eliminate or otherwise to mitigate the threat from non-native terrestrial predators to breeding migratory waterbirds on islands and islets. Measures should refer to contingency planning to prevent invasion, emergency responses to remove introduced predators, and restoration programmes for islands where predator populations are already established.

4.3.11. Parties are urged to establish appropriate measures to tackle threats to migratory waterbirds from aquaculture, including environmental assessment for developments that threaten wetlands of importance for waterbirds, especially when dealing with new or enlargement of existing installations, and involving issues such as pollution (e.g. from residues of pharmaceutical treatments used in aquaculture or eutrophication), habitat loss, entanglement risks, and introduction of non-native and potentially invasive species.”

4.3.12. Parties, the Agreement secretariat and the Technical Committee will as appropriate work together to provide further documentation on the nature and scale of the effects of lead fishing weights on waterbirds and to consider that documentation, noting that lead in general poses a threat to the environment with harmful effects on waterbirds. Parties will, as appropriate, seek alternatives to lead fishing weights, taking into consideration the impact on waterbirds and water quality.