The first draft resolution seeks to improve the conservation status
of African-Eurasian migratory land birds (mostly passerines), which are
probably declining faster than any other suite of birds in the region,
and are a priority for conservation attention. Among these species are
five that are already listed as Endangered or Vulnerable by BirdLife for
the IUCN Red List, and which are therefore included in Appendix I of
the CMS. Four of these, plus a further 80 species, are listed on
Appendix II of the Convention, as species that need or would
significantly benefit from international co-operation.
Appendix II includes at least 13 species which have suffered
particularly severe declines, including several species of warbler,
European Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca, Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata, Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe, Whinchat Saxicola rubetra, Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos, European Turtle-dove Streptopelia turtur and European Bee-eater Merops apiaster.
Six trans-Saharan migrants that are now seen as of greatest
conservation concern are not listed on either Appendix: Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica, Northern House Martin Delichon urbicum, Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava and Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis.
African-Eurasian migratory landbirds are not covered by current
flyway initiatives and conservation activities, as identified in the
existing CMS flyway resolution. They can only be conserved through
co-ordinated action, as they face a range of different threats on their
breeding, passage and wintering grounds.
“For many of the fastest declining species, the main drivers of
decline appear to be away from European breeding grounds”, said Dr Leon
Bennun, BirdLife International’s Director of Science . “In the years
ahead, this group of birds is likely to receive the sort of attention
currently afforded to farmland birds.”
CMS provides the only forum through which to co-ordinate action for
these landbirds. As most of the species are dispersed over very wide
ranges, and not concentrated in sites or priority habitats, there is no
provision for them, at the flyway level, from any other forum.
“Without such coordinated action, range states will fail to meet
their biodiversity targets”, said Dr Bennun. “No amount of effort within
one country or one region can stop these declines.
Landbirds are not covered by the existing instruments in the
framework of the CMS for the conservation of African-Eurasian migratory
birds, namely the African Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA)
and the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory
Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (AEBOP).
While much of AEWA can be delivered by a site-based approach, and
much of AEBOP by a species-focused approach (eg addressing threats from
powerlines, wind farms and poisoning), a land-use policy approach will
be required for migratory landbirds. This will require work with many
organisations and mechanisms, including FAO, UNDP, and the Conventions
on Biodiversity, Desertification and Climate Change, and therefore
leadership and coordination from CMS will be essential.
The resolution calls upon Parties to the CMS -and also range states
which are not Parties- to adopt strategies to promote the conservation
of migratory land, such as alleviating habitat degradation through
sustainable land management policies and practices, ending unsustainable
levels of hunting, monitoring population trends and supporting research
into migration routes and habitat requirements on the staging and
wintering grounds, as well as promoting awareness of the plight of
migratory landbirds, and sharing knowledge and experience of best
practice approaches to conservation.