Bonn, 22 May 2009 - “Invasive Alien Species (IAS)” is this year’s theme for International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB), an international public awareness event, proclaimed by the United Nations, focusing every year on a different biodiversity issue.

The message of this year’s IDB aims to highlight that IAS are one of the major direct drivers of biodiversity loss and to give a clear signal to world leaders that much can be and needs to be done to tackle this problem.
All components of biodiversity, including migratory species, show signs of being affected by plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms that are introduced and/or spread outside their natural habitats.

IAS may directly impact upon migratory species through predation, competition, transmission of disease and genetic changes through hybridisation. IAS may also impair breeding, stop-over and wintering grounds as well as cause loss of resources crucial for migratory species. These ecological interactions may result in local extinction or a decline in number of migratory species as well as changes in the migration pattern.
For instance, more than 20% of the individual species, subspecies and/or populations of species of bird, mammal, fish and reptile, which are currently listed on the CMS Appendices, appear to be or have been threatened by IAS.

The way and extent to which migratory species respond to IAS action vary according to the distribution and ecological aspects of individual taxa or species. Most of our understanding of these threats however relates to some groups of migratory species and certain types of threat e.g. predation upon birds.
The CMS Secretariat recognises the inter-linkages between IAS and migratory species and the need to deal with this issue.

The CMS Secretariat is in fact in the process of finalising a review which intends to illustrate some of the most representative and documented forms of threat concerning various taxonomic groups of migratory species in different geographical areas and habitats and outline proposed and adopted solutions.
This compilation of examples has been designed to be a dynamic and useful information tool composed by self-standing sheets which contain essential facts and figures concerning the negative effects and possible measures to combat them. This flexible format allows the information to be updated easily as fresh scientific data become available.

The CMS Secretariat therefore invites all parties to the Convention, relevant organisations and all those who deal with IAS to contribute to this process by submitting further examples and case studies on threats posed by invasive alien species to migratory species and measures to prevent or control them. This would help to improve our understanding and knowledge of their mutual interactions and provide useful tools to direct international and domestic conservation efforts.

For more information, contact: Laura Cerasi 00 49 228 8152583 (lcerasi@cms.int) or Veronika Lenarz 00 49 228 8152409 (vlenarz@cms.int)