Protecting Migratory Birds Worldwide: What to Watch for at COP15

Lesser Yellowlegs migrate 1000’s of kilometers annually from North America to the Brazilian Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland. Alongside the best way, they cease to feed and relaxation, depending on habitats conserved by governments and personal residents.  

However no single nation is ready to make sure the continued well-being of those and different migratory birds, in addition to different migrant species. The well being of their populations is determined by actions taken by stakeholders in a number of international locations. Audubon has lengthy understood this—which is why we work in eleven international locations all through the Americas, and with companions that stretch our attain even additional, to preserve birds and the habitats on which they rely.  

To those similar ends, the Conference on Migratory Species (CMS) was established to convey collectively the world’s governments to guard migratory species whose survival is determined by cooperation throughout borders. This month, CMS is assembly for its fifteenth Convention of the Events (COP15) in Campo Grande, Brazil—a gathering that would not come at a extra vital time.   

The latest State of the World’s Migratory Species report reveals that 49% of the migratory species populations lined by CMS are declining, and 24% face extinction. Eighteen shorebird species have moved to the next extinction threat class for the reason that final report. Audubon is sending a staff to advance outcomes from CMS discussions that assist bend the bird curve—throughout the hemisphere, and globally.  

Audubon’s priorities for COP15 embrace:  

• Strengthening protections for migratory birds worldwide via CMS selections and resolutions 

• Advancing cooperative motion alongside America’s flyways to raised preserve and handle fowl populations and the habitats on which they rely 

• Showcasing Conserva Aves as a mannequin for revolutionary protected areas that safeguard fowl habitat 

COP15 contributors will collect on the sting of the Pantanal to undertake a sequence of Resolutions and Decisions designed to guard migratory species across the globe. These paperwork give attention to a broad vary of subjects, from defending marine ecosystems, to itemizing species which are newly endangered or threatened in CMS Appendices, making them the main focus of better safety efforts.  

Audubon is working with BirdLife Worldwide to make sure the concerns of migratory fowl species are clearly mirrored in these paperwork, and that classes Audubon has discovered over our 120-year historical past are integrated. These CMS outcomes should not simply phrases in a doc; they form protections for migratory species world wide. For instance, by defining fisheries bycatch as together with “migratory” reasonably than simply “marine” species might decide whether or not governments undertake rules that fight the unintended taking of seabirds—or not.  

The assembly may also think about “itemizing” new species of conservation concern, together with shorebirds akin to Lesser Yellowlegs, Hudsonian Godwit, and Hudsonian Whimbrel. Audubon and its companions are deeply engaged in conserving these shorebird species throughout the Americas, which incorporates actions benefitting wetland habitat for Lesser Yellowlegs in Colombia, and defending roost websites for Hudsonian Godwits in Chile. 

Flyways (groupings of migratory pathways) will likely be a transparent focus of discussions each at COP15 and in workshops within the margins of the convention. A number of of the resolutions and selections purpose to additional advance work on fowl conservation One essential draft decision and accompanying selections purpose to advertise marine and coastal flyways for seabirds, a famous hole within the present world portfolio of flyways.  

Exterior the negotiating house, Audubon will work with BirdLife Worldwide and different companions to consolidate the subsequent part of labor on the Americas Flyways Framework. By way of the coordination of the Americas Flyways Process Drive and implementation of its motion plan, dozens of governments, non-governmental organizations, worldwide organizations, and different stakeholders have the chance to collectively plan and scale the insurance policies and actions wanted to safeguard migratory birds from the northern Arctic all the way down to southern Argentina.  

And on phases and in hallways in Campo Grande, Audubon and quite a few companions, together with American Fowl Conservancy, BirdLife Worldwide, Birds Canada, and RedLAC (Latin America and Caribbean Community of Environmental Funds), will spotlight the above talked about Conserva Aves. This revolutionary partnership helps the design and creation of subnational protected areas in essential habitat for birds throughout the hemisphere. It’s successes—182 conservation areas with greater than 1.1 million acres (445,154 hectares) formally created or expanded—are inspiring extra expansions in new geographies. By highlighting Conserva Aves at COP15, we are able to develop extra relationships and additional advance this key program to guard fowl habitats within the area.