Migratory birds in the Arctic: the importance of working with non-Arctic regions

Arctic summers, when the sun never or nearly never sets, provide a short but intense breeding season for over 270 migratory bird species7

, which seek the wetlands, tundra I

and coasts for their seasonal high supply of food. No other place on Earth receives so many migratory birds from all over the planet, resulting in Arctic coastal regions holding a very special global conservation value. The Arctic in the summer is the breeding home for millions of birds, which at other seasons disperse over all continents to every corner of the world. Migratory birds travel to the Arctic from as far away as South Africa, New Zealand, South America, and in the case of the Arctic Tern, all the way from Antarctica22 migratory “flyways” are recognised23

. Several major within which several

species complete their annual migratory cycle. Many of these movements/flyways have been discovered with modern techniques such as geo-locators and small data loggers, which are used to reconstruct the migration routes and flight patterns of these species24

. II

Migratory wetland and shorebirds depend on a limited number of stopover and wintering sites along their flyway, which are sparsely distributed across the landscape and span over countries and continents. Localised threats and disturbances even at one site – including collisions with man- made structures such as powerlines, illegal hunting, pollution, and habitat change – can seriously affect a species’ population numbers23

are in decline. According to BirdLife International, 11% of the world’s migratory birds are Globally or Near Threatened25

. Many migratory species that travel to the Arctic . Of

the six sub-species of the red knot, a long distance migratory shorebird which breeds in the Arctic, three are in decline and two appear to be declining, whilst the trend for the 6th sub- species is not clear7

.

Reversing population declines and conserving migratory species of the Arctic requires international cooperation amongst those states located within a migratory flyway, including cooperation between Arctic and non-Arctic states. Importantly, protecting migratory birds against e.g., habitat loss or unsustainable hunting, will only be effective if these measures are similarly applied at other sites along a flyway, including staging and wintering areas. CMS, together

30 PROTECTING ARCTIC BIODIVERSITY

with its daughter agreements, provides the international legal framework to facilitate this coordination. Many of its instruments such as the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) focus exclusively on flyways. Others, such as the Raptors MoU, target groups of species with a similar ecological role. This structure allows all stakeholders to work together in partnership to conserve these fascinating species for future generations24

. Migrating paths of birds and marine mammals

Major bird migration flyways/corridors

Approximate paths of cetacean migration