Every year, over 50 million waterbirds make an epic journey along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, which connects the north-east Asian breeding grounds with wintering grounds in south-east Asia and Australia. For example, the Far Eastern Curlew travels the length of East Asia from its breeding grounds in Siberia to the wetlands of southern Australia, while the Bar-tailed Godwit holds the record for longest non-stop flight of over 11,000 km, travelling from Alaska to New Zealand.
We believe that the wonder of these annual migrations will be a way of gaining support for bird and habitat conservation amongst the broader public.

Welcome to the Birds provides BirdLife Partners with the opportunity to demonstrate that some of their country’s key species are shared by other countries, placing even more importance on the need to protect key sites. Welcome to the Birds provides the opportunity for a BirdLife Partner to do advocacy work and awareness-raising at a key site or for a threatened species by reaching out to specific groups such as schools, or to the general public.