World Migratory Bird Day 2020
About the World Migratory Bird Day
World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) was initiated in 2006 as an annual awareness-raising campaign aimed at people living in all the major flyways that highlights the ecological importance of migratory birds and calls for their global conservation through international cooperation. It was established by the Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (UNEP-AEWA) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).In October 2017, CMS, and AEWA announced an innovative partnership that Environment for the Americas (EFTA) joined and combining International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) to WMBD. WMBD is now celebrated twice a year, on the Second Saturday in May and in October. In 2020, WMBD will be held on 9 May and 10 October. the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership has been helping by taking the lead in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. The EAAFP Secretariat highly encourage Partners to celebrate WMBD on twice a year.
Theme of World Migratory Bird Day 2020
This year the theme of World Migratory Bird Day is “Birds Connect Our World” and was chosen to highlight the importance of conserving and restoring the ecological connectivity and integrity of ecosystems that support the natural movements of migratory birds and that are essential for their survival and well-being.
Ecological Connectivity and its importance
Connectivity is essential for migratory species, and important for a wide variety of ecological functions. It describes the natural and necessary movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth. With 1 million species facing the risk of extinction within our generation, connectivity has become a central topic for biodiversity and sustainability. Migratory species move across the globe, running, swimming, or in the case of birds flying, connecting countries, people and continents through their migration routes. This migration can only be accomplished when animals are able to access the different sites and habitats that they rely upon along their pathways. These pathways transcend national borders, national plans and conservation priorities of any single country. Migratory birds connect countries and their conservation requires cooperation between countries and across national boundaries.
Connectivity and Birds
The flyways used by migratory birds connect different habitats. Often, these long-haul flight paths cross inhospitable terrains, such as deserts and open seas. Suitable habitats for wintering, as stop-over, staging and breeding sites are crucial for the survival of these birds. The ecological connectivity of these sites is important to the survival of migratory birds, but this it is being threatened by habitat loss and degradation. The loss or degradation of a critical stop-over site for migratory birds can have a devastating effect on the survival chances of migratory birds and lead to defragmentation that can have a devastating effect on populations. Other threats, such as poisoning, unsustainable use, collisions with man-made objects and climate change are also having a negative impact on migratory birds around the world.
World Migratory Bird Day 2020 will therefore help raise awareness on the importance of ecological connectivity for migratory birds and complement the efforts of CMS to promote ecological connectivity and functionality, international cooperation and the conservation of migratory species within the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
Events and Registration
EAAFP encourages the celebration of WMBD in each country of the Flyway through events, messages and media to raise awareness on the migratory waterbirds and issues they face. Small scale activities can also contribute. Please also share your activities with us, the EAAFP Secretariat will help you to promote your events on social media!
- Register your event here!
Resources on WMBD
The World Migratory Bird Day organizing team developed materials to support campaigns in the world.
Click [here] to download.
Small Grant
The Small Grant for World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) has been established to provide financial support to EAAFP Partners and collaborators from EAAFP Task Forces and Working Groups who plan to organize public events and/or conservation action-oriented workshops at national or local levels through participating in the World Migratory Bird Day. We strongly encourage EAAFP Partners and collaborators to make an application for any suitable event or development of WMBD materials in local language that aims to raise awareness on the need of conserving migratory waterbirds and the value of their habitats in East Asian – Australasian Flyway.
Click [here] to download the EAAFP WMBD 2020 small grant application form. The deadline for WMBD activities in May is 31 March, 2020.
Materials from EAAFP Secretariat (coming soon)
The Secretariat will develop some materials to support campaigns across the EAAF. Please contact us if you need to add logos for your own local campaign.
EAAFP Secretariat
Tel: +82 32 458 6504
E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected]