New commitments to underpin the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) agreement will be at the core of the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) that starts next week, as efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 are gaining momentum.
The UN Convention – COP14 – will take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan over Feb. 12-17, with nearly 1,500 delegates from over 130 countries expected to attend.
Ahead of the meeting, CMS stated that COP14 aims to address over a hundred items, “focusing on enhancing ecological connectivity, mitigating the impact of new infrastructure on migratory species, addressing overexploitation and climate change effects.”
“Participants will review new scientific data on threats and conservation priorities for migratory animals.”
The event is the first major global biodiversity meeting since the GBF was agreed in 2022. Countries are seeking to boost collaboration on species and habitat conservation across borders in a bid to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 agreement and meet the 30×30 target set in Montreal.
“This target is very closely linked to species conservation. Migratory species, in particular, need specific areas to thrive. There’s a direct link between CBD and CMS, and other biodiversity-related conventions as well,” the head of BirdLife International delegation at COP14, Nina Mikander, told Carbon Pulse.
The attempt to strengthen the cooperation between biodiversity-related conventions, including CMS and CBD, was one of the main topics at the Bern III Conference hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) last month.
COP14 is also the first opportunity for governments to meet and discuss species conservation after the COVID-19 pandemic and to make commitments on what they need to do to ensure the ecological integrity of the habitats and to tackle biodiversity loss.
“Migratory species are more vulnerable due to the nature of their migrations,” Dao Nguyen, senior programme manager, species conservation action at IUCN told Carbon Pulse.
“They depend on the good habitats and protection status in their range countries. So if the countries that they migrate to are not doing a good job of protecting their habitats then it will undermine all the good conservation efforts in other states.”
NEW STRATEGIC PLAN
The Convention will adopt a new plan outlining the strategies to meet conservation targets and translate commitments into actions after the text agreed upon in Bergen, Norway 13 years ago expired in 2023.
“Once adopted by COP, CMS parties and states should effectively implement the new strategic plan 2024-2032, by integrating it into national legal frameworks such as the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs)”, Nguyen said.
“We’re still missing the actual activities and indicators, and that’s all being pushed into the next triennium,” added Mikander. “The adoption of the framework is good news, but we need a strong commitment that we will actually also do the rest of the work. Otherwise, it will be really challenging for parties to deliver.”
The summit will also negotiate a new set of global guidelines on light pollution and linear infrastructure to reduce impacts on migratory species.
As well, the meeting will discuss the adoption of the Central Asia Flyway initiative, led by India and aimed at protecting more than 600 migratory bird species that fly across 30 countries.
Nguyen called for more funding pledged for threatened species recovery from donor countries, multilateral donors, and philanthropic foundations.
“Threatened species do need more targeted funding for direct interventions to improve their status,” he said.
No major announcements on funding are expected in Samarkand, however.
“I don’t expect any big commitments,” Mikander said. “Countries are making pledges to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, which will hopefully flow out and support the implementation of other biodiversity convention commitments.”
INAUGURAL REPORT ON MIGRATORY SPECIES
The UN meeting will mark the launch of the first-ever report on the State of the World’s Migratory Species, informed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. A first draft of the report was released last year.
The Convention covers a wide range of migratory species, focusing on the most threatened ones. Ahead of the meeting, 16 countries and the European Union applied for a list of 18 species to be protected under the CMS. The list includes six mammals, three birds, and nine fishes.
Currently, more than 157,100 species are on the IUCN Red List, with over 44,000 species threatened with extinction, “including 41% of amphibians, 37% of sharks and rays, 36% of reef building corals, 34% of conifers, 26% of mammals and 12% of birds”, IUCN reported.
Over the past 60 years, the indicator has played a critical role in conservation policies aimed at avoiding species extinction, though some experts recently warned against an overreliance on the index.
IUCN will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the CMS Secretariat at COP14.
“It will formalise a commitment for IUCN and CMS to work together to protect threatened African carnivores by raising conservation funds and facilitating the implementation of the African Carnivore Initiative (ACI),” IUCN told Carbon Pulse.
The ACI is a joint programme adopted by the CMS and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2021, targeting lions, cheetahs, leopards, and African wild dogs.
IUCN will be acting as a key implementation partner for this programme.
By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com
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