Our conservation experts highlight four species that governments recently recognized need greater protections and explain how these decisions can lead to positive outcomes for the world’s long-distance migrants

The only global treaty focused exclusively on the conservation of migratory species recently brought governments together in Campo Grande, Brazil. A team of experts represented the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) at the Fifteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP15).

Over the week in March, we presented the key findings of the interim State of the World’s Migratory Species report at the opening press conference and to the Plenary, engaged in Working Group discussions and supported our key partners.

We were delighted that the COP concluded successfully, with governments agreeing new commitments and measures that will advance conservation efforts for migratory species, including greater protection for 40 animals. Ahead of World Migratory Bird Day we celebrate the decisions that were made for four species in particular:

Barau’s petrel

Barau’s petrel is an iconic seabird of the Indian Ocean flyways, with a beautiful white-and-black underwing pattern that’s visible as it flits rapidly over the waves. It breeds only on the island of Réunion and can travel up to 600 km a day as it migrates seasonally across the Indian Ocean.

We haven’t had long to study this bird; it was only scientifically described in the 1960s and is already Endangered with as few as 30,000 individuals left. Despite this, along with 25 other small migratory seabirds that were added to the CMS Appendices at COP15, Barau’s petrel was previously not protected by any international laws.

Hudsonian godwit

One of the key findings of the interim State of the World’s Migratory Species report was that shorebirds are in trouble. Of the 26 CMS-listed species that have suffered from an increased risk of extinction in the last two years, 18 were migratory shorebirds.

The Hudsonian godwit is an emblem for many of the problems facing our migratory shorebirds. It’s losing its wetland habitat due to human activities such as aquaculture. It is also suffering from the impacts of climate change, as well as by overexploitation at stopover sites.

Ibera seedeater

The Ibera seedeater, which is a type of finch-like songbird, was only scientifically described in 2016. Despite knowing very little about it, researchers believe there are fewer than 10,000 left. It depends on seasonally flooded or wet grasslands, which are being lost throughout its range in South America at an alarming rate as natural grassland is lost to agriculture, or damaged by overgrazing, wildfires and invasive grass species. Globally, grassland habitats are at risk, poorly protected and undervalued, despite their incredible biodiversity.

Snowy owl

The snowy owl is highly nomadic and unpredictable – which makes seeing them in the wild particularly difficult, and makes researchers’ jobs that much harder. They move enormous distances and often nest in different locations year-to-year. This is one of the reasons the Appendix II listing is good news: it should lead to more data being shared across borders, so that we fill in data gaps and gain a better understanding of why snowy owl populations have declined rapidly in recent years.

Important agreement on monitoring conservation efforts

Ensuring that birds like the snowy owl and Ibera seedeater have a future requires us to track the steps that are being taken to conserve migratory species internationally, and whether these measures are having a positive impact at the global level. At CMS COP15, one of our major contributions was to help governments establish a clear process for understanding the extent to which collective commitments for migratory species have been carried out and are leading to positive change. We did this through our work to develop a monitoring framework for the CMS Strategic Plan for Migratory Species, which sets objectives for the Convention until 2032.

In the lead-up to the meeting we worked closely with CMS Parties, the CMS Scientific Council and the Secretariat to identify which metrics could be used to measure progress against the six goals and 23 targets of the Strategic Plan and develop a monitoring framework. Before the end of the meeting the Parties reached consensus to adopt this framework, supported by our team throughout the discussions and in finalizing the document. The final framework contains a balance between metrics that focus on species, their habitats, the pressures facing them, as well as measures of the degree of progress Parties are making to improve legislation, develop action plans and enhance cooperation.

We continue to work closely with Parties and the Secretariat on the next steps for putting the framework into practice – to track and drive progress on the urgent actions now needed to save the world’s migratory animals.

Main image: Hudsonian godwits (Image: Adobe_750040668)