ON WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY, UN CALLS FOR GREATER PROTECTION OF HABITATS

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 11 May 2013 08:00:01 -0400
Subject: ON WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY, UN CALLS FOR GREATER PROTECTION
OF HABITATS
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

ON WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY, UN CALLS FOR GREATER PROTECTION OF HABITATS
New York, May 11 2013 8:00AM
As an estimated 50 billion birds commence their annual migrations, the
critical staging areas they need to complete these journeys continue
to be degraded or are disappearing completely, the United Nations
today warned on this year's World Migratory Bird Day.

In his message marking the Day, celebrated each year in over 65
countries on 11 and 12 May, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored
the need for greater international action in protecting the winged
fauna and saving their natural habitats. With the stepping stones to
their migration under increased pressure, some bird species could face
extinction within a decade.

"I fully support the global campaign to raise awareness about the
threats to migratory birds from habitat destruction, overexploitation,
pollution and climate change," Mr. Ban said in a news release in which
he added his call for "greater international efforts to restore and
preserve migratory birds and the network of sites they need to survive
as an important part of the environment on which we all depend."

Initiated in 2006, the Day is an annual campaign organized by the
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
(CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) --
two intergovernmental wildlife treaties administered by the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP), which also backs the campaign -- and
devoted to celebrating migratory birds and promoting their
conservation worldwide.

In particular, through numerous bird festivals, education programmes,
presentations, film screenings and birdwatching trips held in the
participating countries, the Day highlights "the importance of
ecological networks for the survival of migratory birds, the important
human networks dedicated to their conservation, the threats migratory
birds face, and the need for more international cooperation to
conserve them," reported a UNEP news release.

This year's Day, however, will mark the importance of the
African-European Flyways where a regional event, to be held on the
shores of Kenya's Lake Elementaita, will pay tribute to the 11
globally threatened bird species which are supported by the Kenya
Lakes System.

"There are many reasons why migratory birds should be conserved --
their beauty and behaviour are a source of joy and inspiration for
millions upon millions of people," UNEP's Executive Director, Achim
Steiner, noted.

"But they also are part of the web of life that underpins nature's
multi-trillion-dollar ecosystem services, while being in some
countries, including Kenya, part of the nature-based tourism that
generates 10 per cent of the nation's GDP," he continued.

Many migrating birds -- including cranes, storks, shoebirds and eagles
-- travel thousands of kilometres across flyways that span countries
and continents. Nevertheless, pressures resulting from rapid
urbanization, pollution and climate change have caused the steady loss
of their natural habitats.

According to UNEP, the migratory waterbird species that depend on the
intertidal habitats along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway -- which
stretches from Russia to New Zealand and encompasses some 22 countries
-- are showing "rapid decline" and are among the planet's
"most-threatened migratory birds."

"The decline is mainly caused by the fast pace of coastal land
reclamation occurring in this densely populated region, particularly
around key coastal staging areas in the Yellow Sea," the UNEP press
statement added.

However, with 19 per cent of the world's 10,000 bird species migrating
annually around the globe, the UN environment agency pointed out that
the responsibility of protecting their habitats was not just a
regional one, but required a network of international assistance.

"Migratory birds and the challenges they face in many ways underline
the ambition of multilateralism in a globalized world," Mr. Steiner
stated. "It is only when countries work together in common cause that
the survival and conservation of these species be ensured."

May 11 2013 8:00AM
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