Egypt's Ministry of Environment announced that the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) won the AEWA Conservation Award, at The 7th Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP7), for conserving waterbirds, in accordance with the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). According to a statement from the ministry, Ayman Hamada, the director-general of the species diversity biodiversity department, at the nature conservation sector of the ministry, represented Egypt in the MOP7, and while receiving the award in South Africa. Hamada said that Egypt won the award at an institutional level, which reflects the exerted Egyptian efforts for conserving migratory waterbirds. He added that the nature conservation sector is implementing ambitious plans, to monitor and conserve waterbirds in Egypt in order to protect biodiversity. Egypt is leading the world in conserving biodiversity, as it is the current president of the 14th Conference of the Parties onthe Convention of Biodiversity Conservation. Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, said that Egypt is the second country to win the award since its launch, after the Netherlands. It is an indication of Egypt's success in its plans for decreasing pollution in lakes, where waterbirds pass by in their trips. The AEWA committee praised the Egyptian project for monitoring and conserving waterbirds. It also described the project as the most comprehensive of its kind, regarding the integrated management of migratory waterbirds, and sustainable hunting across the Egyptian Mediterranean coast.
