Wetland Count Data of Namibia

Regular bird counts at selected wetlands and coastal sites throughout the country have been undertaken since 1991, with some earlier information available for a few sites e.g. Walvis Bay and Sandwich. Data are recorded on IWRB (Wetlands International) forms. Counts have generally been made during the months of January, April and/or July, though few sites have been counted at every count date and many new sites have been added since 1991.

Although a lot is already known about the local and international importance of some of Namibia's wetlands, there are many aspects we still don't know enough about. Many of the wetlands in Caprivi are poorly known, for exanple, and information on the importance of Namibia's wetlands to migratory birds is limited. With regular counts over many years it will be possible to identify trends in wetlands use by different groups of birds, and thus identify particularly important wetlands. Some wetlands may qualify as Ramsar sites on the basis of regularly supporting >1% of a species' population. Recognition of the importance of Namibia's wetlands to resident and migratory birds as well as to other animals and plants may enhance their perceived conservation value and protection status.

Uses of the data include:

• Get species list for a wetland site
  
• Monitoring of species distributions
• Identification of Namibia's most important wetland sites in terms of overall numbers of birds, numbers of Red Data species, numbers of migratory birds etc.
• Monitoring of these key sites, many of which are threatened or endangered
• Using birds as indicators of 'health' of wetlands