By Yemi Olakitan
The 11th Meeting of Partners (MOP11) of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), which concluded in Brisbane, Australia on Friday, March 17, 2023, announced the EAAFP as an official partner of the World Migratory Bird Day campaign.
The new partnership connects initiatives to promote migratory bird conservation on a worldwide scale.
The World Migratory Bird campaign raises awareness of migratory birds and their habitats around the world each year by highlighting their spectacular migration routes.
The two days of International Migratory Bird Day are traditionally marked on the second Saturday of May and October as a means to acknowledge the cyclical nature of bird migration as well as the fact that there are various peak migration seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres.
The campaign is a collaboration between Environment for the Americas, the EAAFP, the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), and the Convention on the Protection of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
It was determined that the inclusion of the EAAFP will increase awareness and participation for migrating birds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
“I am confident that the new partnership with EAAFP will open new horizons for global migratory bird conservation and strengthen our common effort to raise awareness of migratory birds and the importance of international cooperation to conserve them,” said Ms. Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
“I sincerely hope that the signing of this collaboration agreement and the positive inter-flyway cooperation we have developed in the framework of World Migratory Bird Day will continue to flourish,” said Dr. Jacques Trouvilliez, executive secretary of AEWA.
We are brought together by the idea of flyway conservation and the understanding that global cooperation is crucial to the preservation of migratory birds.
Birds are not aware of political borders, Dr. Susan Bonfield, Executive Director of Environment for the Americas, emphasised.
Through this collaboration agreement, we affirm our unshakable commitment to protecting migratory birds along their flyways and fostering human-bird relationships in honour of World Migratory Bird Day.
Our organisations promise to work together for migratory bird conservation on a worldwide scale.
The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership’s Chair, Mr. Robb Kaler, stated: “We are delighted to join as a new Partner to World Migratory Bird Day and to work with CMS, AEWA, and EFTA!
The new cooperation will enable more effective collaboration, spur more innovative ideas, and have a bigger influence on the global conservation of migratory birds.
The EAAFP is dedicated to spreading the word about the need to conserve migratory birds as a group.
“Water: Supporting Bird Life” will serve as the theme of World Migratory Bird Day in 2023 and will be utilised to emphasise the significance of water for migratory birds.
Rivers, lakes, streams, marshes, inland and coastal wetlands, as well as lakes, ponds, and marshes, are all essential for feeding, drinking, or breeding as well as serving as resting and refuelling stops during their long migrations.
Regrettably, many of these aquatic ecosystems and water bodies, as well as the migratory birds that depend on them, are worldwide under threat.
The two busiest days of World Migratory Bird Day in 2023 will be on May 13 and October 14, which highlights the cyclical nature of bird migration and the differences in migratory times between the northern and southern hemispheres.