Since its introduction at the CMS COP14 in Samarkand, the Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration has launched the Atlas of Ungulate Migration and published over 35 maps and fact sheets from land mammal migrations around the world. Building the Atlas – from connecting with wildlife managers on the ground to mapping complex, transboundary migrations – has revealed valuable insights and challenges to conserving the phenomenon of ungulate migration. For instance, in analyzing the first 22 migrations in the Atlas, the GIUM has found that on average less than half of mapped migration corridors are protected, presenting a significant opportunity for countries to increase protection and work to achieve Targets outlined in 30 x 30 and the KMGBF by focusing on preserving migratory habitat. Bringing together partners from Kazakhstan, Argentina, Kenya, and South Sudan, the panel will highlight how countries are leveraging the new migration maps to improve conservation and mitigate development and human activity. Panelists will also discuss their migrations in the broader regional context, where migratory landscapes are facing distinct threats to ecological connectivity and conservation goals.
The GIUM will also report early findings from its ongoing assessment to evaluate the status of the world’s ungulate migrations. Bringing together an international network of migration experts, biologists, wildlife managers and conservationists to collate knowledge of where the world’s ungulate migrations are located, which are most at risk, and what knowledge gaps exist, this new report will address the plight of migratory ungulates worldwide. Its aim is to galvanize global conservation and action by identifying significant, imperiled migrations from each region and to identify the migrations where conservation action and global attention would make the greatest difference in securing them for future generations.
This side event will present findings from the last two years of mapping as well as offer forward-looking perspectives on the conservation of ungulate migration.
Specific case studies and topics include:
- Mapping and managing the world’s largest land mammal migration – the white-eared kob in South Sudan.
- Presenting how regional connectivity projects are reconnecting migratory guanaco populations across Chile and Argentina as a result of the species’ recent listing in CMS’s Appendix II.
- Managing tourism, human livelihoods, and infrastructure in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania – home to the Serengeti’s Great Migration and the recently collapsed Mara wildebeest migration.
- Discussing management, development and conservation implications for the saiga’s recovery in Kazakhstan.
- Presenting preliminary research and insights from the Global Assessment on Ungulate Migration, including discussion of the the world’s ungulate “migration hotspots.”
