On 9th May 2020, World Migratory Bird Day(WMBD) is an annual global celebration campaign to raise awareness of the needs for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. This day was initiated in 2006 by the United Nations Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds(AEWA). The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) celebrates this event bi-annually on the second Saturday in May and in October.The theme of this year’s WMBD is “Birds Connect Our World”.
Key Points:
i.The idea of this day was initiated in the United in 1993 initiated with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
- The World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated by a collaborative partnership between two UN treaties – the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the African Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) – and the Colorado-based non-profit organisation Environment for the Americas (EFTA).
ii.In 2005 on the 10th anniversary of the AEWA Secretariat initiated the Migratory Waterbird Day(MWD) held in Africa, Europe and parts of Asia.
iii.The day is celebrated by taking actions and organising public events like bird festivals, education programmes, exhibitions and bird-watching excursions.
iv.The migrating birds use their habitats on their path of migration. The loss of these habitats due to urbanization and pollution will affect the connectivity from one continent to another for these birds leading to extinction of the species.
About UNEP:
Executive Director– Inger Andersen
Deputy Executive Director– Joyce Msuya
Headquarters– Nairobi, Kenya
