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Newi Makhado holds his bronze Eagle-Owl Award statuette and framed certificate, awarded to him by BirdLife South Africa in 2025 for his contributions to the conservation of South Africa’s seabirds, photograph by John Cooper
Dr Azwianewi Benedict (Newi) Makhado, South Africa’s National Contact for the Albatross and Petrel Agreement, was elected as Chair of the Scientific Council of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) in August this year. The Scientific Council, on which Newi represents South Africa as a Scientific Councillor, makes recommendations to the CMS Conference of the Parties on such issues as research on migratory species, specific conservation and management measures in relation to threats to migratory species, the inclusion of migratory species in the Appendices and designation of species for Concerted Actions under the Convention (click here).
South African delegates and observers Thando Cebekhulu, Azwianewi Makhado, Andrea Angel and Makhudu Masotla attending ACAP meetings in Swakopmund, Namibia, May-June 2026, photograph by Barry Baker
Newi also represents South Africa on the ACAP Advisory Committee and serves as a member of its Bycatch and Population Status and Conservation Working Groups.
Newi is a Specialist Scientist Marine Top Predators in the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, where he has conducted research on seabirds on South African guano islands, on the sub-Antarctic Marion and Prince Edward Islands and in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica since 2004. He has made extensive contributions via numerous publications in the scientific literature to the understanding and protection of South Africa’s seabirds, including the threatened ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels that breed at Marion Island.
In 1999/2000 Newi spent 15 months on the island as part of the M56 Overwintering Team studying the diet of the island’s two fur seals towards his MSc at the University of Pretoria, awarded in 2002. Newi is an Honorary Research Associate of the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, the alma mater for his 2009 PhD that investigated the impact of fur seals on the conservation status of seabirds at the Prince Edward Islands and off western South Africa.
In addition to his international roles with ACAP and the CMS, Newi represents South Africa’s at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and its subsidiary Scientific Committee.
The ACAP Secretariat extends its congratulations to Newi Makhado on his election and looks forward to continuing working with him at future sessions of the Meeting of Parties and meetings of its Advisory Committee and associated working groups.
John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 23 September 2026