20% of World’s Migratory Species at Extinction Risk: UN

• 06 Apr 2024

From African elephants searching for water, to turtles crossing seas to nest, and to albatrosses on their ocean-spanning search for food, the world’s migratory species are under threat across the planet, according to the United Nations’ first ‘State of the World’s Migratory Species’ report released recently.

 

One in five migratory species is threatened with extinction and 44 per cent have a decreasing population trend. The situation is far worse in aquatic ecosystems, with 97 per cent of the migratory fish listed for protection under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) at risk of extinction.
 

Human Impact on Biodiversity
Humans are to blame, by destroying or breaking up habitats, hunting, and polluting areas with plastics, chemicals, light and noise. Climate change also threatens to interfere with migration routes and timings, by altering seasonal conditions. Migratory species often rely on very specialized sites to feed and mate and their journeys can cross international borders and even continents.

 

Iconic species that make some of the most extraordinary journeys across the planet include the monarch butterfly, the humpback whale and the loggerhead turtle.

 

“Today’s report sets out the evidence that unsustainable human activities are jeopardizing the future of migratory species,” said Inger Andersen, head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

 

Hunting, Farming and Fishing

 

 

Agriculture and fishing are among the main threats. The report found that over the past three decades, 70 CMS-listed species have become more endangered, including the steppe eagle, Egyptian vulture and the wild camel.

 

Just 14 now have an improved conservation status, including blue and humpback whales and the white-tailed sea eagle. Of the 158 mammals listed under the convention, 40 percent are globally threatened, according to the report.

 

Meanwhile, 97 percent of the 58 fish species listed are facing a high risk of extinction, including migratory sharks, rays and sturgeons. More than 960 species of birds are CMS-listed and while only 14 percent were assessed as threatened, the authors stressed this still amounts to some 134 species.

 

Magnificent Creatures
The report includes a focus on species most at risk, highlighting the threats from fishing, farming and pollution. They echo a flagship biodiversity agreement in 2022, when countries agreed to preserve 30 percent of the planet’s land and sea by 2030. Many of the migratory species listed on CMS provide economic value or “services” useful to humans, from tourism centered on whales, dolphins, elephants and cheetahs to the pollination provided by birds and bats.

 

The report listed dozens of recommendations and actions that should be prioritized to address the extinction risks. It said more work is needed to identify key migratory paths for various species and to not only increase the number of habitats that are protected as conservation areas but to ensure they are properly managed.

 

The report also suggested increased monitoring of migratory species to better prioritize conservation activities and to minimize the negative effects of infrastructure development on the paths animals take to migrate over land, air and water.