Bonn, 19 November 2019 – “Migratory species connect the planet and together we welcome them home” will be the theme of a major UN Wildlife Conference dedicated to migratory species in India early next year.

Under this theme, governments, scientists, conservation groups and wildlife experts will convene at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS COP13) due to take place in Gandhinagar, India, from 15 to 22 February 2020.

The theme was announced today by Amy Fraenkel, CMS Acting Executive Secretary and Soumitra Dasgupta, Inspector General of Forest at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India during COP13 preparatory meetings currently underway in Bonn.

Throughout their life cycles and migration ranges, migratory animals depend on a functioning network of connected habitats across countries and continents to breed, feed and rest.

The COP13 theme highlights the importance of ecological connectivity to better protect migratory wildlife and their habitats. Ecological connectivity is the unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth.

The loss and fragmentation of habitat are the key threats to migratory animals across the world. They are also considered to be the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide with climate change exacerbating these effects.

In a world that faces a continuous decline in biodiversity with migratory animals being a key component, ecological connectivity is essential to halt and reverse this trend.

CMS has called for the concept of connectivity to be integrated into the new Global Biodiversity Framework, which will be adopted at the end of next year in China.

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