NEWS – First-ever State of the World’s Migratory Species assessment released by UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

WHAT IT SAYS

• World’s migratory species are under threat across the planet

From African elephants searching for water, to turtles crossing seas to nest, and to albatrosses on their ocean-spanning search for food

• Focusses on the 1,189 species
• One in five is threatened with extinction and 44 percent are seeing their populations decline
• Blame Humans – by destroying or breaking up habitats, hunting, and polluting areas with plastics, chemicals, light and noise
• Climate change also threatens to interfere with migration routes and timings, by altering seasonal conditions
• Report is released as over 130 signatory countries — with the notable absence of the US, China, Canada and Russia — gather for a conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from February 12 to 17
• Migratory species often rely on very specialized sites to feed and mate and their journeys between them can cross international borders and even continents
• Iconic species that make some of the most extraordinary journeys across the planet include the monarch butterfly, the humpback whale and the loggerhead turtle
• Among the chief threats are agriculture and fishing. Farming can destroy habitat

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE CONSERVATION OF MIGRATORY SPECIES OF WILD ANIMALS (CMS)

• Also known as the Bonn Convention
• International treaty aimed at conserving migratory species and their habitats on a global scale
• Adopted in Bonn, Germany, in 1979 and entered into force in 1983.
• Recognizes that certain species of wild animals move across national boundaries, and their conservation requires cooperative efforts among countries sharing their habitats
• Dedicated Secretariat, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which is responsible for coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the convention