Conservation News 693
and practitioners from 203 countries and territories met to commit to the acceleration of species recovery during the first-ever World Species Congress, hosted by Reverse the Red. At the World Conservation Congress in 2008, IUCN members adopted Resolution 4.019 calling for a World Species Congress: a science-based, interdisciplinary, inclu- sive gathering to highlight the status of species and chart the course of species conservation. National and regional conversations took place across
96 satellite events, engaging an estimated 100,000 people and facilitating rich connections, deep conversations and a broad reach. The relationship between a global event and local and regional convenings meant that national networks supporting governments in updating and im- plementing their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans were able to connect and coalesce around the Congress. With 200 speakers representing 68 countries in 165 ses-
sions, the programme of the Congress shared messages of urgency, success and hope. Notable speakers included Jane Goodall, Russell A. Mittermeier, Jon Paul Rodríguez, Grethel Aguilar, David Cooper, Ivonne Higuero and Amy Fraenkel, as well as representatives from the governments of Angola, Ireland, India, Colombia, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Kenya, Germany and Brazil. These speak- ers shared stories of species recovery across their spheres of influence, to galvanize further support and action to reverse species declines. Pivotal actions from the Congress are the more than
3,750 pledges made since the Reverse the Red Species Pledge launched. To achieve Global Biodiversity Frame- work targets, we need coordinated, strategic efforts from all partners. The pledge is a first step in understanding which organizations are committing their skills, experience and knowledge to the recovery of species. Pledges made during the World Species Congress include: Twycross Zoo to reverse declines of 15 threatened species by 2030; Bristol Zoological Society to reverse declines of 97 species; at the satellite event hosted by Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo, 30 conservation organizations to protect 50 species from decline; Botanic Gardens Conservation International to assess 2,000 tree species; and the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Antelope Specialist Group to assess 95 species. The urgency to achieve global biodiversity targets is in-
creasing. But the World Species Congress was a reminder that saving species is possible. The attendees came away with insights, tools, strategies and frameworks to accelerate their efforts, and connections to more than 10,000 other conservation experts dedicated to the same goal (see Engagement Report available at
reversethered.org/world- species-congress-2024). The first-ever World Species Con- gress was a pivotal moment in conservation: an attestation that, together, we can save species.
MEGAN JOYCE1 (
megan.joyce@
reversethered.org) and
MICHAEL CLIFFORD2 1Reverse the Red, Syracuse, New York, USA. 2Reverse the Red, Wichita, Kansas, USA
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Launching of the Locally led East Asian Flyway Acoustics Program
The East Asian–Australasian Flyway is a globally important bird migration route used by many species threatened by the synergistic pressures of poaching, habitat loss and climate change (Yong et al., 2021, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 613172). There aremajor knowledge gaps regarding the ecol- ogy of birds in the Flyway, and the key threats and causes of population declines. Recent advances in acoustic recording technology and machine learning for automated detection of bird sounds have improved the monitoring of migratory birds. However, the bias towards species in temperate regions, particularly North America, means these tools are not as effective or accessible in Southeast Asia. A lack of locally relevant resources and trainingmaterials creates an additional barrier for conservationists in the region. To improve conservation of migratory birds in the East
Asian–Australasian Flyway, the Locally led East Asian Flyway Acoustics programme began acoustic data collec- tion in September 2024, during the autumn migration, across 17 locations in Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan. Embracing a locally led ap- proach, participants from across the region have worked since January 2024 to prepare for the deployment of au- tonomous recording units, learn analytical approaches for acoustic data and develop research questions. Participants also formed working groups focused on bird identifica- tion, machine learning, scientific publication and commu- nity outreach. The acoustic data collected will be used to map migration across the Flyway, filling data gaps in the citizen science platform eBird (
ebird.org). Participants will also work with developers of the research platform BirdNET (
birdnet.cornell.edu), which aims to automate acoustic bird species recognition at a large scale, and SILIC (Sound Identification and Labeling Intelligence for Creatures) that can recognize 257 species of terrestrial vertebrates found in Taiwan, including 213 bird species (Wu et al., 2022, Ecological Informatics, 101524; silic.
tbn.org.tw). Their input will help to evaluate and improve the performance of automated algorithms for the identi- fication of migratory bird species in the Flyway. Acoustic monitoring produces extensive datasets that
can be analysed to identify species, track migration routes and patterns, and detect threats and changes in bird popula- tions and habitats. These datasets offer fine-scale spatial and
Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 689–699 © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324001121
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