The Bijagós Archipelago: A key area for waterbirds of the East Atlantic Flyway

The Bijagós Archipelago is a group of 88 islands and islets off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in W Africa. It is a site with an undisputable ecological value, recognized nationally by the implementation of three marine protected areas, and internationally by its classification as a Biosphere Reserve and Ramsar Site. Its relatively pristine ecosystem mostly arises from local community cultural traits that have limited the overexploitation of resources until recently. Among the diverse set of habitats, its extensive mangrove forests, totalling 524 km2, cover c. 30% of the area of the archipelago, and provide crucial ecosystem services, including nursery for several fish species, safe roosting areas for waterbirds, and organic matter input to adjacent habitats. The Bijagós Archipelago also features ca. 450 km2 of intertidal flats, among the largest in the world, which sustain highly diverse benthic communities. This site holds an important part of the regional populations of several waterbird species, especially migratory shorebirds. It is the third most important site on the East Atlantic Flyway for Palearctic migratory shorebirds during their non-breeding period, and second in Africa, after the Banc d’Arguin in Mauritania. Nevertheless, very steep declines in most shorebird species are being observed in the Bijagós Archipelago, in accordance with overall declines along the flyway, and in other important sites like the Banc d’Arguin. The reasons for these declines are not fully known. Conservation, research and monitoring efforts have been increasing in the area, in an attempt to gather baseline knowledge on different aspects of relevance to waterbirds, their habitats and the ecological processes they depend upon, ultimately aiming at protecting the extraordinary biodiversity value of the Bijagós Archipelago.