At dawn, in the southeastern corner of Malawi, the still waters of Lake Chilwa come alive. Flocks of White-Faced Whistling Ducks and African Skimmers sweep low across the floodplains, joined by hundreds of thousands of other waterbirds that rely on this vast wetland for survival. Home to over 160 species and more than 1.5 million individuals, Lake Chilwa is not only one of Malawi’s two Ramsar Sites (Wetlands of International Importance) and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, it is also a critical site for migratory waterbirds along the West Asian-East African Flyway.
As one of Malawi’s key wetlands, Lake Chilwa provides habitats for numerous breeding, wintering, and migrating species of waterbirds including the White-Faced Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata), African Skimmer (𝘙𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘴), Black Crake (𝘡𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢), Allen’s Gallinule (Porphyrio alleni), and Lesser Moorhen (𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢)—all of which are listed under the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). AEWA is an intergovernmental environmental treaty that has brought together over 80 countries so far in a shared mission: to conserve migratory waterbird populations and their habitats across the African-Eurasian Flyways. Since joining AEWA as a Contracting Party in 2019, Malawi has strengthened its commitment to flyway-scale cooperation in line with the Agreement and its Strategic Plan and Plan of Action for Africa.
Thanks to support from Leica Camera AG, waterbird monitoring work in Malawi has received an important boost. Through funding that has been provided by Leica as part of a cooperation agreement with AEWA, the country’s waterbird monitoring efforts have gained renewed momentum. This support has enabled Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) to cover essential logistical costs for the country’s participation in the annual International Waterbird Census (IWC) that has been coordinated by Wetlands International since the 1960s.
The Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) is the government agency responsible for the management and conservation of wildlife resources in Malawi. Its mission is to conserve and manage protected areas and wildlife through enforcement of wildlife legislation, adaptive management, effective monitoring and governance.
As part of this mandate, the DNPW is also responsible for coordinating the annual International Waterbird Census in the country, which takes place in January each year and is one of the world’s largest and longest-running biodiversity monitoring programmes.
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), another AEWA waterbird species occurring in Malawi. Photo: Sergey Dereliev
During the census period, Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife leads a coordinated national effort to monitor key wetlands across the country. Park officers, birding guides, and local partners come together to count waterbirds at important sites across the country. With national oversight from DNPW and technical support from Wetlands International, Leica’s funding has played a crucial role in ensuring that Malawi can effectively participate in this global initiative. The data collected not only informs species and site management at the national level but also contributes to the Report on the Conservation Status of Migratory Waterbirds in the AEWA Agreement Area —a key report that summarises the sizes and trend of waterbird populations and helps to identify conservation priorities across the AEWA flyways.
Emmanuel Moyo, a 31-year-old Field Guide based at Mvuu Camp in Liwonde National Park, is among the many volunteers that support the IWC counts in Malawi each year. He shared how even modest funding has made a real difference:
“The funds help us cover basic logistics for the counts,” he explained. “It may seem small, but it enables us to access wetland sites and keep the monitoring work going.”
The impact is not just on paper. Each year, DNPW compares the results with past records to track national species trends. “For example, in the past two years, we have not seen some species of birds that we used to see in previous years such as the Allen’s Gallinules. That tells us something about changes in the wetland,” Moyo notes.
With 23 designated Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and its role in the Malawi–Zambia Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), Malawi’s wetlands are essential not only to local biodiversity but also to international efforts to conserve migratory waterbirds along the African-Eurasian Flyways. Thanks to the partnership between AEWA and Leica Camera AG, efforts on the ground are helping ensure these critical flyway links are monitored, understood, and protected for generations to come.