This year's celebrations for World Migratory Bird Day 2013, held 11-12 May, highlighted the importance of ecological networks for the survival of migratory birds, the important human networks dedicated to their conservation, the threats migratory birds face, and the need to strengthen international cooperation to conserve them.
12 May 2013: This year’s celebrations for World Migratory Bird Day 2013, held 11-12 May, highlighted the importance of ecological networks for the survival of migratory birds, the important human networks dedicated to their conservation, the threats migratory birds face, and the need to strengthen international cooperation to conserve them.
Launched in Kenya in 2006, World Migratory Bird Day is organized by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). It is also supported by BirdLife International, Wetlands International, the Secretariat of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) and the UN Environment Programme.
To mark this day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for greater international efforts to restore and preserve migratory birds and the network of sites they need to survive. In a statement, Braulio Ferreira De Souza Dias, Executive-Secretary, UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), highlighted that the conservation and sustainable management of migratory species populations is key to achieving sustainable development goals. Luc Gnacadja, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), said that a land-degradation neutral world can support the migration of birds.
This year the day was celebrated through many events and bird festivals. In Kenya, a regional event took place on the shores of Lake Elementaita, part of the Kenya Lakes Systems, a network of sites that supports 11 globally threatened bird species. [CMS Press Release] [UNEP Press Release] [CBD Press Release] [UN Press Release] [UNCCD Press Release]