Fortieth anniversary conference of the International Wader Study Group: the African contribution

Abstract

The International Wader Study Group (IWSG) (http://www.waderstudygroup.org), founded in the United Kingdom in 1970 as the Wader Study Group, held its 40th anniversary conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on the weekend 2 to 5 October 2010. Several of the founding members were present, and the original instigator, Clive Minton, traced the early history and development of the group. From its roots as a network of British groups of mainly amateur wader ringers, the centre of gravity of membership has crossed the North Sea to continental Europe, and it has mixed membership of both professionals and amateurs with an interest in shorebirds. The IWSG mounts an annual conference, with the past dozen conferences being scattered across Europe, in France (twice), England, the Netherlands (twice), Poland (twice), Hungary, Spain, Germany, Ireland and Sweden, and the 2011 conference is scheduled for the weekend /24-26 September in Inverness, Scotland. These events are characterized by excellence in three spheres: science, conservation and fun.