Albatrosses, turtles, sturgeons and bats: the situation of migratory species that are essential to the balance of nature is deteriorating, warns a new report published Monday February 12 under the aegis of the UN.
“Migratory species are being hit hard,” laments UN Environment boss Inger Andersen.
Among the species listed by the 1979 Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals - which publishes the report - one in five is threatened with extinction and 44% are seeing their population decline.
Among the 58 fish species listed, almost all (97%) are threatened with extinction, like certain sharks.
“The phenomenon of migration itself is in danger, because there are barriers and the habitats these animals need may be under pressure,” Amy Fraenkel, executive secretary of the Convention, told AFP. .
Threatened migratory species © Jonathan WALTER, Laurence SAUBADU / AFP
Countries from around the world that are signatories to the latter - more than 130 nations but not the United States or China - are meeting for a conference (COP14) in the historic city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan from February 12 to 17.
They will look into the fate of these migratory species, which include animals emblematic of life on Earth such as sea turtles, whales and sharks, elephants and species of wild cats, and many birds.
Their migrations can be guided by many factors such as the search for favorable climatic conditions, access to food or an ideal environment for giving birth to young.
The Pointed Man
The threats to these animals are directly linked to human activity: loss, degradation or fragmentation of habitats mainly due to intensive agriculture or overexploitation by hunting and fishing, as well as climate change.
Animals are also subject to additional pressures such as pollution (pesticides, plastics, etc.) or even underwater noises or lights which disturb them.
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“This report shows that unsustainable human activities endanger the future of migratory species,” underlines Inger Andersen.
“Creatures that not only act as indicators of environmental change but also play a role in maintaining the functions of our planet’s complex ecosystems and ensuring their resilience,” she emphasizes.
These species provide many services such as pollination, the transfer of nutrients from one environment to another, or the elimination of pests.
Bats, for example, play an important role in the pollination of flowers and the dispersal of seeds, allowing the propagation of mango or papaya trees in certain countries.
Other endangered species
The report not only draws up this grim observation but also calls for international cooperation to help animals which, by nature, know no borders and can sometimes cross thousands of kilometers. Like the monarch butterfly, which can travel 4,000 km in North America.
The tracks, which should feed into the Samarkand conference, also echo the Kunming-Montreal agreement on biodiversity, established in 2022, which plans to preserve 30% of the planet's lands and seas by 2030. The authors therefore call for “identifying, protecting, connecting and managing sites important for migratory species”.
A monarch butterfly in a butterfly farm at the Chapultepec zoo in Mexico City on April 7, 2017 © Pedro Pardo / AFP/Archives
Other priorities: fight against illegal or unsustainable catches, urgently take care of the species most threatened with extinction or step up efforts to tackle various pollution (light, noise, plastic, chemicals, etc.) and to climate change.
The report further suggests expanding the list of species listed by the Convention to draw attention to other endangered animals.
It lists nearly 400 threatened or near-threatened species which do not yet appear in the Convention lists, such as American and European bison or the Indus dolphin.
With AFP
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