Statement of Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species on the International Day for Biological Diversity 2024
“Be part of the Plan” is this year’s theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated around the world on 22 May. The theme emphasizes the importance of working together across nations to safeguard nature and reverse biodiversity loss.
Adopted by the world’s governments in December 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is the culmination of a multi-year, multi-stakeholder process that resulted in a strategy now serving as the primary blueprint for global action on biodiversity. It is a truly global plan, setting goals and concrete measures to halt and reverse the loss of nature by 2050.
Many of the priorities and objectives of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) are well reflected in the GBF. One of the top priorities for CMS is Ecological Connectivity, which is addressed by GBF Goal A and Targets 2, 3, and 12.
Ecological connectivity is vital for healthy, functioning ecosystems and is essential for migratory species, which rely on a network of specific sites and habitats during their life cycles and seasonal movements. Migratory species must be able to reach these sites, often located across national boundaries.
At the 14th Conference of the Parties to CMS (COP14), we launched the “Global Partnership on Ecological Connectivity,” ensuring that actions to address ecological connectivity are mobilized and coordinated worldwide. This new global initiative will help ensure that the partnership's actions benefit migratory species and help implement the relevant targets of the GBF.
Several organizations have joined the partnership, including the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC), Climate Chance, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Other priorities for CMS in the GBF are targets addressing the conservation of species and the direct and indirect drivers of their declines, including Targets 4, 5, and 9, as well as those on pollution (7), invasive species (6), and climate change (8).
The GBF species-related targets aim to ensure that wild species of animals are conserved, extinctions are halted, and extinction risks are significantly reduced. Target 4 calls for stopping the extinction of known species and reducing the extinction risk and rate of all species through urgent response activities. This target is crucial for CMS, aligning with its mandates and numerous conservation actions. Under Target 5, parties are to ensure that the use, harvesting, and trade of wild species are sustainable, safe, and legal, preventing overexploitation. Implementing this target is also key for CMS, requiring increased attention to the ongoing illegal and unsustainable taking of wild species for domestic purposes, including direct consumption, sale, sport, and culling of species viewed as pests.
At CMS COP14, we also launched the first-ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report, which focused not only on CMS-listed species but also on broader global trends. While its findings are a wake-up call, the report also contains promising news. With 14 CMS-listed species now having improved conservation status and another 30 percent of CMS species being stable, the report underscores the importance of CMS and international cooperation on species.
Implementing the GBF will directly contribute to the conservation of migratory species, and CMS's implementation is essential for achieving many goals and targets of the GBF.