Why we need to protect endangered waterbirds

The report finds that migratory waterbirds are among the species most at risk. The biggest threat they face occurs during their annual round trip migrations between their summer breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere and their feeding areas in the south. Last week, Member States, intergovernmental organization representatives and NGOs adopted a series of resolutions and guidelines to improve biodiversity loss and the conservation of 255 waterbirds listed under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) backed African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA).
Research shows that biodiversity loss is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet today. In 2019, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment warned that humanity was losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate. One million species could go extinct in the near future if current trends are not reversed. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the only global convention specializing in the conservation of migratory animals, their habitats and migration routes, confirmed this trend. A CMS report presented at the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP-13) found that up to 73 per cent of its listed species were in decline. The loss of biodiversity and ecosystems, both of which sustain humanity, is nothing short of an existential crisis, said experts.
“Migratory animals are an essential part of the ecosystems in which they are found,” said Amy Fraenkel, the Convention’s Executive Secretary. “They directly contribute to the functioning and the balance and the makeup of healthy ecosystems which provide us with countless benefits, such as pollination, food, pest control and many economic benefits.”
Because migratory species cross-national, regional, and even continental boundaries, CMS has pioneered a framework that supports global cooperation - the kind that is needed to address multifaceted global challenges like biodiversity and climate change.

[...]

The full article can be found at unep.org

For more information about the bird biodiversity crisis and the solutions needed see the State of the World’s Birds 2022 Report which can be found at birdlife.org

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) can be found at cms.int