Newsletter / Blog
2011-11-26 Only international action will save migratory birds.
Populations of long-distance migratory landbirds are
declining so rapidly in the African-Eurasian flyway that a delegation of 20
staff from around the BirdLife International Partnership will be lobbying this
week for their plight to be addressed at a meeting focused on conserving the
world's migratory species. The decline of these birds is so severe that
conservationists believe the only way to save them is through concerted
international action. So far, tropical African countries, including Ghana, have
been leading this call. The BirdLife International Partnership hope this plea
will be heeded by all countries sharing these birds, and especially the
governments attending this week's 10th Conference of Parties of the Convention
on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
Migratory landbirds nesting in Europe and wintering in
Africa (south of the Sahara desert) are
showing the most alarming and significant population declines. For instance in
the UK between 1995 and 2008, the populations of four summer-visiting birds
declined by more than more than half – Turtle Dove [70%] - Wood Warbler [61%] –
Nightingale [53%] and Yellow Wagtail [52%. Unlike waterbirds, they are not
restricted to individual sites and they migrate on a very broad front. So,
site-based conservation initiatives simply will not be effective in preventing
further declines. Instead, conservationists need to work in a broad range of
habitats, across wider landscapes, improving the environment for both people
and wildlife. |