Publicaties

Preface

In November 2012 the Dutch Avifaunistic Circle (AKN1) was established as a new section of the Netherlands Ornithologists’ Union. After its existence of three years, the main focus now is on two projects: Dutch Ornithological Heritage and a contribution to the knowledge of the birds of Georgia. Arguments for the latter project are, firstly, that apart from raptors, status information on the various bird species in Georgia is scarce, and secondly, that Georgia is one of the hotspot areas for birds in the world. Georgia is famous for its biodiversity and is an important location for the monitoring of long-distance migrant birds.

Together with SABUKO, which is the Society for Nature Conservation in Georgia, and BirdLife International, we made a plan for collaboration in the coming years. Of course, also other countries already support Georgia and the Caucasus program of BirdLife International. We are happy to join them.
In September 2013 Frank de Miranda, Martin Lok and Kees Scharringa (AKN) made an orientation in Georgia and they visited the Chorokhi delta then. The need for additional data seemed evident, especially on groups of birds other than raptors. We decided to stimulate ornithological fieldwork. The result of the first step is this report by Rinse van der Vliet. His survey in May 2015 underlines the importance of the Chorokhi delta as a future Important Bird Area.

Let this be the start of a fruitful collaboration!

November 2015,
Frank de Miranda Chairman Dutch Avifaunistic Circle & Alex Rukhaia Director SABUKO