MIGRATORY SPECIES FACE RISK OF EXTINCTION

One of the simple pleasures at our family cottage is watching the hummingbirds come and go. I mean “come and go” in a couple of ways.

They’re remarkably agile little creatures and they flit around pollinating the flowers and gathering nectar. One a larger scale, they’re migratory, and they travel from our boreal forest retreat to South America and back every spring and fall.

I remember my late mother being astonished that such tiny feathered friends could manage that trip every year. They even return to the same nests after every pilgrimage.

LANDMARK REPORT ON MIGRATORY SPECIES

The United Nations has taken an interest in migratory species recently. It released a landmark report on the subject at the opening of the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14).

This is the first comprehensive assessment on the state of our planet’s migratory species. It provides a global overview of migratory animals’ population trends and conservation status.

The report updates the main threats to migratory species’ survival. Thankfully, it also offers some success stories, like reduced illegal bird netting in Cyprus and re-establishing the Saiga Antelope in Kazakhstan among other actions that have helped preserve certain species.

BILLIONS OF MIGRATORY ANIMALS ACROSS THE GLOBE

There are billions of migratory animals across the globe. They make their periodic journeys by land, sea and air.

Of course, they pay no attention to national or even continental boundaries. Many, like our little hummingbird friends, travel thousands of miles, seeking the ideal conditions for them to feed and breed.

As usual when it comes to wildlife conservation, the report contains some sobering facts. The conservation scientists at the World Conservation Monitoring Centre found that 44% of migratory species are showing population declines.

PRACTICALLY ALL MIGRATORY FISH FACE EXTINCTION

Practically all migratory fish species face extinction, along with 22% of all migratory wildlife. What’s worse, the extinction risk is growing.

Only about half of the Key Biodiversity Areas that migratory animals need for survival have protected status. Human activity is imposing unsustainable pressure on 58% of monitored sites.

The primary threat to migratory animals, affecting 75% of species, is habitat loss from human encroachment. Overexploitation of animals through fishing, hunting and harvesting for trade, is a close second, impacting 70% of listed species.

HUMAN ACTIVITY ADVERSELY IMPACTS MIGRATORY SPECIES

Human activity also adversely impacts migratory species through climate change, pollution and introducing invasive species into ecosystems. I sometimes think that humanity itself is an invasive species.

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) is an environmental treaty including 132 countries and the European Union. It includes a list of 1,189 threatened migratory species.

The researchers identified an additional 399 migratory species, mainly fish and birds, facing extinction. These animals aren’t listed in the agreement, but the researcher are calling on the parties to the convention to add them.

INGER ANDERSEN – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNEP

Inger Andersen has been working on international development and environmental stability for the past three decades. She’s currently serving as the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

“Today’s report clearly shows us that unsustainable human activities are jeopardizing the future of migratory species,” Director Andersen said. “Creatures who not only act as indicators of environmental change but play an integral role in maintaining the function and resilience of our planet’s complex ecosystems.”

Amy Fraenkel is a lawyer with more than three decades of experience in international environmental law and policy. She’s the Executive Secretary of the CMS.

“ENORMOUS CHALLENGES AND THREATS”

“Migratory species rely on a variety of specific habitats at different times in their lifecycles. They regularly travel, sometimes thousands of miles, to reach these places,” Secretary Fraenkel explained. “They face enormous challenges and threats along the way, as well as at their destinations where they breed or feed.”

When it comes to global agreements and boundaries, Secretary Fraenkel added, “When species cross national borders, their survival depends on the efforts of all countries in which they are found. This landmark report will help underpin much-needed policy actions to ensure that migratory species continue to thrive around the world.”

The CMS treaty is an example of a growing awareness of our global ecosphere and humanity’s place within it. It’s part of a shift from away from what scientists are now calling the Anthropocene epoch.

AND ANOTHER THING…

The main characteristic of the Anthropocene has been human exploitation of nature. Many of us are now anticipating a new, Ecozoic era in which humanity would shift toward a more harmonious and sustainable relationship with Earth’s ecosystems.

The State of the World’s Migratory Species report sets out five priority recommendations:

Strengthen and expand efforts to tackle illegal and unsustainable taking of migratory species, as well as incidental capture of non-target species,

Increase actions to identify, protect, connect and effectively manage important sites for migratory species,

Urgently address those species in most danger of extinction, including nearly all CMS-listed fish species,

Scale up efforts to tackle climate change, as well as light, noise, chemical and plastic pollution, and,

Consider expanding CMS listings to include more at-risk migratory species in need of national and international attention.

Director Andersen concluded by saying “The global community has an opportunity to translate this latest science of the pressures facing migratory species into concrete conservation action. Given the precarious situation of many of these animals, we cannot afford to delay, and must work together to make the recommendations a reality.”

We always have more to learn if we dare to know.

Learn more

Landmark UN report: The world’s migratory species of animals are in decline, and the global extinction risk is increasing

State of the World’s Migratory Species

Biodiversity Conference Commits to Protect 30% of Natural World

Ecosystem Stability Determined by Two Simple Factors

Monarch Butterfly Added to Endangered Species List