The Conference of the Parties at its eleventh meeting (COP11, 2014) included the development of an atlas on animal migration as an activity to pursue within the CMS Programme of Work. The production of an atlas was foreseen as a long-term initiative, expected to be continued in the future, and to be implemented through a modular approach.
The CMS Atlas of the Americas Flyways is the first online pilot platform, done in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, designed to support the identification and prioritization of critical migration, breeding, and non-breeding sites for migratory birds across the Americas. The platform will provide decision-relevant spatial information to inform conservation planning, site prioritization, and the identification of conservation needs at regional and national scales.
For the first time, and thanks to this Atlas, a country-level map containing a list of migratory CMS Appendix I and II bird species can be displayed, using citizen-science based data, modelled by experts at Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The Atlas contains links to species-specific life history accounts from Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World (BOW), as well as abundance estimates and migration pathways from eBird Status and Trends (S&T).
In addition to country selection and individual species info, this new Atlas shows the most important migration, breeding, and non-breeding areas for migratory bird species listed under CMS Appendix I and II across the Americas. It identifies Bird Concentration Areas (BCAs) that support high abundances of CMS Appendix I or II species, using publicly available data products from eBird Status and Trends. Darker colors show higher combined abundance for the selected species group. The map can display importance across the full year (Yearly) or by week (using the weekly toggle). Values are grouped into quantiles to emphasize the relative importance across the hemisphere. These Bird Concentration Areas are derived from methods developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Launch Event
All times are in Campo Grande, Brazil (AMT/UTC-4)
Time | Agenda Item | Speaker | |
12:45 – 12:50 (5 minutes) | 1 | Opening remarks Welcome and opening remarks | Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary, Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) |
12:50 – 12:55 (5 minutes) | 2 | Introduction Brief introduction/justification of Atlas | Iván Ramírez, Head Avian Species Team, CMS |
12:55 – 13:05 (10 minutes) | 3 | Presentation of Atlas Short presentation of the tool and its potential | Christopher Wood, Program Director, Center for Avian Population Studies, Director of eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology |
13:05 – 13:10 (5 minutes) | 5 | Supporting bird conservation in the Americas with the Atlas tool | Rob Clay, Chair of the CMS Flyways Working Group, COP-Appointed Co-Councilor for Birds |
13:10 – 13:15 (5 minutes) | 6 | National and Regional perspective on Atlas tool | Joao Paulo Capobianco, Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change |
13:15 – 13:30 (10 minutes) | 4 | Q&A from the floor and media | |
13:30 – 13:35 (5 minutes) | 7 | Closing remarks | |