Decisions 13.34 to 13.38 - Action Plan For Migratory Land Birds in the African-Eurasian Region (AEMLAP)

The Secretariat shall: a) subject to the availability of funds, organize in the intersessional period between the 13th and 14th meetings of the Conference of the Parties a consultation meeting of Range States to agree on whether the Action Plan should remain as a stand-alone document or whether a new CMS instrument should be developed, or an existing CMS instrument should be used as institutional framework; b) in the intersessional period between the 13th and 14th meetings of the Conference of the Parties, promote the importance of sustainable land use for migratory birds, and the specific practices and approaches in the Abuja Declaration, with relevant UN agencies and other international institutions and to seek opportunities for collaborative action to encourage sustainable land use for migratory species and people.

The Scientific Council is requested, subject to the availability of resources to: a) continue the Working Group on African-Eurasian Migratory Landbirds until the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP14), extending its membership to incorporate expertise from geographical regions currently absent, to facilitate and monitor the implementation of the Action Plan, and to develop indicators to assess the implementation of the Programme of Work 2016 – 2020; b) in the intersessional period between the 13th and the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, and subject to the availability of resources, work with the Migratory Landbird Study Group, relevant academic institutions, research-funders and the Working Group, in order to actively promote research that addresses key knowledge gaps relating to migratory landbird conservation in African landscapes, inter alia, to: i. identify migratory pathways and strategies (including multi-species analysis) using tracking technologies to better understand movement patterns, geographic areas of particular importance to multiple landbird species and migratory connectivity so enabling field research, monitoring and conservation action to be targeted more effectively; ii. undertake detailed field studies in sub-Saharan Africa and at staging sites, in conjunction with existing data where appropriate, to better understand species distribution patterns, habitat use and foraging ecology, and in particular identify and enhance conservation of the stop-over sites immediately to the north and south of the Sahara (including through data collection and seeking linkages with relevant stakeholders); iii. synthesize data from European breeding grounds to explore spatial and temporal patterns in demographic parameters in relation to migratory pathways and large-scale patterns of environmental change; iv. use satellite image Earth observation data and where possible in conjunction with on the ground habitat and bird monitoring (including through synergies with and expansion of common bird monitoring schemes) to improve understanding where land cover is changing and how this impacts African-Eurasian migrant birds, and research the drivers of land use / land cover change; v. seek better understanding of how to influence the economic and social policy drivers causing land use / land cover change at different scales; and vi. encourage research to determine for which declining European landbird migrants declines cannot be explained by conditions in the breeding grounds. c) consider the viability of the Working Group and its Steering Group in the absence of sufficient funds required for the implementation and coordination of the Working Group’s Programme of Work, as outlined in Decision 13.36 (b), and to propose an alternative mechanism for the implementation of these activities, as needed;

Parties: a) are urged to make voluntary financial contributions to ensure the coordination of the activities needed for the implementation of the AEMLAP and the Working Group’s Programme of Work, and for the organization of at least one meeting of the Working Group, during the intersessional period between the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP13) and COP14; b) are further urged to take note of the request of the Working Group regarding the requirement of an estimated €200,000 for the implementation of the Working Group’s Programme of Work and an AEMLAP Coordinator for the intersessional period between COP13 and COP14, on the understanding that in the absence of a substantial proportion of the total amount (at least €100,000 by 30 June 2020, and an additional minimum of €50,000 each by 28 February 2021 and 28 February 2022), the Working Group could become dormant; c) are invited, with the support of the Secretariat, to work together with relevant United Nations agencies, international organizations and other stakeholders, to organize a workshop on the integration of biodiversity requirements into the land degradation neutrality delivery at appropriate scale; d) particularly those that are Parties, Signatories or Range States, respectively, also to other CMS instruments – the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (Raptors MOU) and the Central Asian Flyway Action Plan – are requested to provide financial support as soon as possible for the timely implementation of the joint project on the assessment of the status of and the development of action plans for priority principal bird habitats along the African-Eurasian flyways; e) are requested to report on progress in implementing the AEMLAP and integrating it into delivery against other relevant international agreements, including monitoring and efficacy of measures taken, to COP14 in 2023, via their National Reports, in order to achieve CMS objectives;

Parties, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations: a) and particularly Parties, bilateral and multilateral donors, the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Economic Community of West African States and other relevant international organizations, in the intersessional period between the 13th and the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, are requested to consider voluntarily supporting financially the implementation of the Action Plan, in particular to tackle the barriers to sustainable land use in Africa, including the priorities for West Africa recommended by the Abuja workshop, and including through the provision of technical and financial assistance to developing countries for relevant capacity- building; b) are urged to make voluntary contributions to support the Working Group to organize at least one meeting within the intersessional period between the 13th and the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to among other activities, review the implementation of the Action Plan and the Programme of Work; c) are requested to support and cooperate on new initiatives to capitalize on existing international approaches to retain and enhance tree cover (e.g. Bonn Challenge, Trillion Trees, Great Green Wall) and local aid and development projects around agriculture and forestry, through monitoring outcomes, enabling comparisons between sites and across years, where possible in properly designed experiments, to provide insights on interventions that can create win-win scenarios for birds as a proxy for biodiversity, for local communities in terms of socio-economic benefits and for land degradation neutrality and nature-based climate solutions, or at least can benefit birds without detriment to these other objectives.

Subject to the availability of resources as outlined in Decision 13.36 (b), the Working Group, with support from the Scientific Council and the Secretariat, should update its Programme of Work by the end of 2020, including an associated budget to capture the existing financial requirements and conservation priorities and in line with the Strategic Plan for Migratory Species 2015 – 2023.