State of the World’s Waterbirds: trouble in Asia, recovering in ‘the West’

The rate of decline of waterbird populations has slightly declined over the last three decades. However, 47% of the waterbird populations are still declining and only 16% are increasing. The status of waterbirds improves mainly in North America and Europe, while it is the worse in Asia. Especially long distance migrants appear to be vulnerable.

These are the key findings of the State of the World’s Waterbirds 2010 launched by Wetlands International on 21^st October at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity in Nagoya, Japan. This publication analyses the changes in the status of waterbird populations between 1976 and 2005 using the data collected for the four editions of Waterbird Population Estimates published by the organisation since 1994.

Dependent on economical activity and conservation measures the status of waterbird populations is improving in regions where strong conservation legislation is implemented, such as North America and Europe. However, the rate of decline of waterbird populations is increasing in all other regions without such instruments. The situation is especially alarming in Asia where 62% of waterbird populations are decreasing or even extinct. The combination of a rapid economical growth and weak conservation efforts appears to be lethal. Waterbird populations are exposed to a wide range of threats such as the loss and degradation of marshes and lakes, water regulation, agricultural intensification, hunting and climate change.

Download the Book here (5.9MB).

'Bird populations are declining' - Global Biodiversity Outlook 3

“The target agreed by the world’s Governments in 2002, “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth”, has not been met.”

“The action taken over the next decade or two, and the direction charted under the Convention on Biological Diversity, will determine whether the relatively stable environmental conditions on which human civilization has depended for the past 10,000 years will continue beyond this century. If we fail to use this opportunity, many ecosystems on the planet will move into new, unprecedented states in which the capacity to provide for the needs of present and future generations is highly uncertain.”

These excerpts are from the latest version of Global Biodiversity Outlook launched on 10 May 2010.

Global Biodiversity Outlook is the flagship publication of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Drawing on a range of information sources, including National Reports, biodiversity indicators information, scientific literature, and a study assessing biodiversity scenarios for the future, the third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) summarizes the latest data on status and trends of biodiversity and draws conclusions for the future strategy of the Convention.

Some facts on Bird populations from GBO-3

· Farmland bird populations in Europe have declined by on average 50% since 1980.
· Bird populations in North American grasslands declined by nearly 40% between 1968 and 2003, showing a slight recovery over the past five years; those in North American drylands have declined by nearly 30% since the late 1960s.
· Of the 1,200 waterbird populations with known trends, 44% are in decline.
· 42% of all amphibian species and 40% of bird species are declining in population.
· Bird species have faced an especially steep increase in extinction risk in South-East Asia, on the Pacific Islands, polar regions and in marine and coastal ecosystems.

Download GBO-3 (8.6MB)