UN Alert: Migratory Species in Serious Decline

44% of migratory species are declining

Many migratory species are faring poorly.

Populations are declining in 44 percent of these species. Slightly more than one fifth, 22 percent, are even threatened with extinctionaccording to a published UN report.

Migratory species are animals that regularly travel great distances. According to the report, only 14 such species have seen an improvement in their conservation status, including blue and humpback whales and the white-tailed eagle.

The first report on the state of migratory species was published by the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) in Bonn and presented at a UN conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The report focuses on 1’189 animal species recognised by CMS member states as deserving international protection. It also contains information on more than 3’000 additional migratory species.

Migratory animals need intact travel routes

Silke Bauer, an expert on the phenomenon of animal migration at the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach, is not surprised by the figures in the first comprehensive UN report. Migratory animals are particularly vulnerable.

They do not depend on a single habitat, but on many different ones. Habitats that line up like beads on a string: “If even just one of these beads is destroyed, the entire chain falls apart. The route is broken.”

Fish are particularly badly off

Billions of animals undertake migrations every year on land, in water and in the air. They cross national borders and continents, with some travelling thousands of kilometres in search of food and mating partners. These include salmon and sea turtles, storks and terns, wildebeest and elephants.

Under the motto “Nature knows no borders,” the 14th CMS Conference recently opened in Samarkand. Government representatives, scientists and conservationists discussed the challenges facing nature conservation with a focus on migratory birds and wandering land and marine animals. It also addresses the threats they face from fishing, habitat loss and climate change.

Gorillas and almost half of all turtles monitored by the CMS are threatened with extinction according to the report. Among the animals whose populations are declining are the bar-tailed godwit, which flies more than 12’000 kilometres non-stop between Alaska and New Zealand, as well as the critically endangered European eel, which migrates from freshwater to the sea to spawn.

Fish populations are particularly badly off: 97 percent of fish species listed by the CMS are threatened with extinction. These include migratory sharks, rays and sturgeons, whose populations have declined by 90 percent since the 1970s. The two greatest threats to migratory fish species are excessive exploitation such as fishing and habitat loss due to human activity. Climate change, pollution and invasive species also have strongly negative impacts.

Important Role for Ecosystems

To protect these animal species, the authors of the report have formulated a series of recommendations. Human-built infrastructure such as roads or high-voltage power lines along important flight routes, swimming routes and migration paths should be minimised. More must also be done to understand and better protect the areas that are critical to migration.

The global community must act now, demanded Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “Given the precarious situation of many of these animals, we cannot afford to hesitate and must work together to turn the recommendations into reality.” Migratory species play an essential role in maintaining the world’s ecosystems by pollinating plants, transporting vital nutrients, controlling pests and contributing to carbon storage.