NCE participation in the Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention of the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) in Uzbekistan 2024

Nature Conservation Egypt’s participation in the Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14) in Uzbekistan was crucial to the work we do with Egypt being one of the most important global migration routes. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) is the global treaty of the United Nations that addresses the conservation and effective management of migratory species and their habitats. 

The Convention was established in recognition that the conservation of migratory species will not be achieved unless there is cooperation of all countries across national borders, in all of the places where such species spend any part of their life cycle. The Convention therefore aims to conserve migratory species throughout their range through international cooperation and coordination of conservation measures.

The Convention has expanded in scale over the past 40 years since its adoption in June 1979. There are now 133 Contracting Parties to CMSa and 28 other countries that, although not Party to the Convention, are Party to one or more of the Agreements and/or are signatories to one or more of the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) concluded under the umbrella of CMS, Egypt is one of the 28 countries. 

Egypt is of great importance to global migrations of different species and that is by virtue of its geographical location between Africa, Asia, and Europe making some of its migration routes gain global importance especially along the coast of the red sea, the second most important flyway for migratory soaring birds like raptors, storks, pelicans, and more. ​​This is in addition to the migrations of other types of birds, such as waterfowl, pasarines, and various fish, crossing Egypt and its seas.

Migratory animals are essential components of the ecosystems that support all life on Earth. Across the globe, billions of individual animals embark on migratory journeys each year, connecting distant continents, countries and habitats through their migration routes. Migratory species carry great ecological, economic and cultural importance making the world what we know of it today. Migratory species are key to nutrient cycling, pollination and seed dispersal, and ecosystem regulation. Migratory species connect the world together and partake in cultural values, sustainable use and livelihoods, and climate change mitigation. Day in day out, we realize the world being a human body continuously moving to keep the cycle that maintains its balance to the overall health of the earth’s surface and its survival.

Indeed, the world is suffering exceptionally because of the unprecedented obsession over speed exercised since the industrial revolution in the 60s. With fastest industrial growth came expansions and trends changing the globe’s map in the 70s, that directly impacted wildlife and nature as a whole leading to the disappearance of 60% of the density of wild animals in just the past 50 years. Threats are increasing and threatened species consequently are. There are 399 globally threatened and near-threatened migratory species (mostly birds and fish) not listed by the CMS. Further, the IUCN Red List records that 22% (260 species) - or more than one in five - of the 1,189 species listed CMS is considered endangered. Despite the significance and vitality of migratory species and their movement, there is very little awareness and consideration maximizing the strains under which wild life at large suffers.

The Conference of the Parties meets every three years as the principal decision-making body of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species where it sets the budget and priorities for the following three years and considers reports submitted by Parties, the Scientific Council and agreements established under the Convention. Based on the conference, the parties discussed some important topics and made some decisions on the basis of which the limits of the various provisions for the conservation and the assessment of the global state of migratory species for the next three years were drawn.

The conference resolutions for the year 2024 stipulated several points engaging the egyptian delegation and NCE’s direction in regards to migratory species conservation, the first of which is the launch of the Global Ecological connectivity Initiative, through which the agreement goes beyond conventional actions of migratory species conservation considering the health, safety, and connectivity of their habitat and migration flyways and corridors. The conference also discussed amending or adding paragraphs on the need to conduct comprehensive cumulative assessments of the impact of renewable energy infrastructure on populations of migratory species along the impact that transcends the national borders of countries and extends them to the level of global migration flyways between continents. The role and reinforcement of the  establishment of tools and methods for comprehensive cumulative evaluation was on the table of discussions, in addition to reviewing currently used tools such as GenEST and adopting future tools such as AviStep for the measurement of species sensitivity to renewable energy projects. Also, the parties paid more attention to the necessity of monitoring mist nets production for bird hunting in different countries, as an indirect way of monitoring hunting activities. In addition to the discussions, the parties are developing an African Eurasian Migratory Landbirds Action Plan (AEMLAP) to regulate the hunting of wild birds for food in Europe, Africa and Asia.

There were  agreements at the conference on an Initiative for the Central Asian Flyway, which spans 30 Range States, after nearly two decades of inconclusive negotiations. The adopted initiative includes the establishment of a coordinating unit in India with financial support from the Government. Additionally, a new adopted approach agreed to global flyways coordination under the CMS umbrella for CMS and non-CMS parties and partners. The expansion and reinforcement of the prevention of illegal killing, taking, and trade of migratory birds was confirmed with a call for strengthening the recently created Asia-Pacific Intergovernmental Task Force and agreement on the launch of a new Task Force in Southwest Asia, based on the successful model of the Task Force in the Mediterranean region. There was also extra emphasis on the strengthened resolution on climate change and endorsement of the report on the climate change on migratory wildlife and strengthened measures to address the illegal and unsustainabletaking of migratory species.

There are new global guidelines addressing the impacts of light pollution on migratory species and recommendations on addressing linear infrastructure and development and impact assessment. The conference agreed to adopt a new decision on Wildlife Health encouraging CMS Parties to implement the recommendations of the scientific report ‘Migratory Species and Health: A Review of Migration and Wildlife Disease Dynamics, and the Health of Migratory Species, within the Context of One Health’ also endorsed by COP.

These decisions are of particular interest to Nature Conservation Egypt for its decisive role in adopting the protection of migratory birds from overhunting and the impact of various energy projects on their numbers, especially currently, by both assisting the Ministry of Environment in making more stringent decisions in the face of the ever growing investment taking place along major migration routes having detrimental effects on migratory species of fish and birds and their habitats and translating the avian sensitivity tool AviStep.