Mumbai: Migratory birds are facing mounting threats throughout their annual journeys, from habitat destruction on breeding grounds to collisions with buildings and energy infrastructure along migration routes, said Marti…

Mumbai: Migratory birds are facing mounting threats throughout their annual journeys, from habitat destruction on breeding grounds to collisions with buildings and energy infrastructure along migration routes, said Martin Harper, CEO of BirdLife International, the UK-headquartered global partnership working to conserve birds and their habitats.“These threats include habitat loss, particularly due to unsustainable agriculture, invasive alien species, overexploitation, including illegal killing, climate change and the growing impact of human infrastructure,” Harper, who was on a visit to India, told DH.According to him, buildings and energy infrastructure are responsible for the deaths of millions of birds every year through collisions and electrocution, making the protection of migration routes and habitats an urgent conservation priority.Harper said that although world leaders agreed in 2022 to mobilise new funding to help reverse declines in wildlife populations, the global biodiversity funding gap has continued to widen and is now estimated at $900 billion a year. At the same time, government grants for international conservation are being reduced, he said.“This is why BirdLife International has been exploring innovative ways to mobilise new resources for flyway conservation and why we have joined forces with multilateral development banks (MDBs),” Harper said.Five years ago, BirdLife launched the Regional Flyway Initiative (RFI) with the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership and the Asian Development Bank. Similar initiatives have since been established in the Americas with BirdLife’s US partner, the National Audubon Society, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.“Most recently, we have joined forces with the World Bank for the Africa-Eurasia Flyway,” he said.Harper said plans were also underway for a similar initiative in the Central Asian Flyway, adding that the RFI approach could eventually provide a template for conserving the six marine ocean flyways.The initiatives seek to bring conservation and development financing together to protect critical habitats along entire migratory routes, rather than focusing on individual sites or countries.Through these partnerships, billions of dollars are being mobilised for site-based conservation that benefits migratory birds, local communities and climate action, Harper said. The investments will help protect critical habitats within Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) and Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), while ensuring that the transition to clean energy is nature-safe.51% of migratory bird species declining globally: StudyThe funding will also help create jobs, support the livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable communities and enable nature-based solutions to climate change to be deployed at scale, he said.“Alongside these MDB investments, we are building a Global Flyway Granting Mechanism (GFGM) with MDB partners for civil society to target vulnerable species and sites that need greater protection. USD 9 million has already been pledged by the Global Environment Facility to establish the GFGM in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.“The RFIs not only allow us to influence powerful lending mechanisms but also give us the opportunity to scale our work beyond what has previously been possible. They also provide an opportunity for different donor conversations, where donors can see our level of ambition and the excitement of what can be achieved, creating a coalition of the willing for this mission.“We think the RFIs are changing the way conservation operates. We are building something special, uniting conservation across continents at scale,” said Harper.On the Central Asian Flyway, he said a BirdLife-led Situation Analysis of Migratory Birds in the Central Asian Flyway was published in 2023 and recognised by governments as a key baseline for conservation planning.“Engagement with development finance institutions, including ADB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), is ongoing to explore a regional flyway investment initiative,” he said.

Source: Deccan Herald