There is often a gap between the language and policies that are designed to trigger substantive environmental protections for migratory species and the desired conservation outcomes. Amid threats such as large-scale linear infrastructure development and an expanding human footprint across land and seascapes, preserving freedom of movement for wildlife is a major challenge across scales. CMS’s Resolutions 12.26 and 14.16 recognize this challenge and the opportunity for ecological connectivity initiatives to employ tracking data in driving such activities.
However, while scientists are tracking species all over the world, leveraging tracking data to meaningfully inform conservation planning at national and regional levels is not readily actionable.
How can countries better use empirical tracking data from migratory species to meaningfully inform development planning and meet their conservation commitments regarding biodiversity and migratory species? What would it look like to legally designate a national or transboundary mapped migration corridor? There are significant opportunities to base conservation measures on migration as a unique natural phenomenon that sustains biodiversity and population abundance, not just existence. This event will look at these issues from multiple angles, all aimed at addressing how integrating movement data (with a focus on migration) into conservation planning and policy can become standard, streamlined, and impactful. This event will engage participants as follows:
- In-depth discussion led by representatives from the World Bank on how environmental impact assessments are conducted and where there is room to strengthen them regarding migratory species.
- The Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration (GIUM) will present concrete ways that conserving ungulate migration routes and corridors can scale up to conserving biodiversity and meeting other national objectives, and discuss new findings from evaluations regarding the protection status of migratory ungulates worldwide.
- Representatives from the newly established Animal Movement Biodiversity Observation Network (Move BON) will present on the development of standardized metrics and movement-informed indicators to guide conservation planning for migratory species.
- Representative from the Shorebird Collective and the Smithsonian will present on integrating migration tracking data into planning for marine infrastructure (offshore wind and deep-sea mining), as well as the Canadian government’s “Environment and Climate Change Canada” initiative using tracking data insights in committee reviews of offshore lease areas and companies’ formal risk assessment submission. The ECCC is also including migration route data in their Arctic Ocean Protections plan 2.0.
- Representatives of the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group will highlight how animal movement data informs ecological corridor planning and serves in mitigating impacts of linear infrastructure
We hope to stimulate discussion with CMS Parties, national focal points, and other participants about the utility of using tracking data, movement indicators and maps to conserve migratory species.