Recalling Recommendation 7.7 America Pacific Flyway Programme, Resolution 10.10 Guidance on Global Flyway Conservation and Options for Policy Arrangements, and Resolution 11.14 Programme of Work on Migratory Birds and Flyways1 relating to flyways,1All consolidated in Resolution 12.11 (Rev.COP14) FlywaysRecognizing that a flyways approach is necessary to ensure adequate conservation of migratory birds throughout their ranges and that any use of migratory birds is sustainable, combining species- and ecosystem-based approaches and promoting international cooperation and coordination among States, the private sector, multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), United Nations institutions, non-governmental organizations, local communities and other stakeholders,Also recognizing that there are specific threats of particular significance to migratory birds along flyways, as identified in A Review of Migratory Bird Flyways and Priorities for Management CMS Technical Series No. 27, that continue to have an impact on these species and their habitats including: inland wetland reclamation; destruction of coastal and inter-tidal habitats (Resolution 12.25 Promoting Conservation of Critical Intertidal and other Coastal Habitats for Migratory Species); loss of forests and grasslands; agricultural intensification and habitat modification through desertification and overgrazing (Resolution 11.17 (Rev.COP14) Action Plan for Migratory Landbirds in the African-Eurasian Region (AEMLAP); inappropriate wind turbine development (Resolution 11.27 (Rev.COP13) Renewable Energy and Migratory Species); collisions with power lines and electrocutions (Resolution 10.11 (Rev.COP13) Power Lines and Migratory Birds); illegal and/or unsustainable killing, taking and trade (Resolution 11.16 (Rev.COP14) The Prevention of Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds); overfishing and the bycatch of seabirds (Resolution 6.2, Recommendation 7.2, Resolutions 8.14, 9.18 and 10.142); lead shot and other poisoning (Resolution 11.15 (Rev.COP14) Preventing Poisoning of Migratory Birds); invasive alien species (Resolution 11.28 Future CMS Activities related to Invasive Alien Species) and avian influenza and other disease (Resolutions 8.27, 9.8 and 10.22 on wildlife disease3 and Resolution 14.18 Avian Influenza); and marine debris (Resolution 11.30 Management of Marine Debris4),2All consolidated in Resolution 12.22 Bycatch3All consolidated in Resolution 12.6 (Rev.COP14) Wildlife Health and Migratory Species4Consolidated as Resolution 12.20 Management of Marine DebrisRecognizing that flyways are to be considered as ecological networks, since although there may be no direct physical links between their component parts, the populations of birds using them provide an ecological link themselves, as recognized in Resolution 14.16,Acknowledging the work of the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity in collaborating with non-Parties in the ASEAN for the establishment of the ASEAN Flyway Network fostering regional cooperation for the conservation of migratory waterbirds and the wetlands that support them,Acknowledging that the very broad and comprehensive mandate of Resolution 10.105Guidance on Global Flyway Conservation and Options for Policy Arrangements has been streamlined and focused into a more detailed programme of work (POW), via Resolution 11.146 in order to provide Parties and stakeholders with a clear road map with timelines, priorities and indicators for the conservation of flyways and migratory birds,5Consolidated as Resolution 12.11 (Rev.COP14) Flyways6Consolidated as Resolution 12.11 (Rev.COP14) FlywaysRecalling that Resolution 10.107 requested CMS to work in close partnership with existing flyway organizations and initiatives in the Americas, to develop an overarching conservation Action Plan for migratory birds in the Americas, recognizing especially the established programmes of work and taking into account existing instruments,7Consolidated as Resolution 12.11 (Rev.COP14) FlywaysTaking note of Resolution 10.18 (Rev.COP12) Guidelines on the Integration of Migratory Species into NBSAPs and other Outcomes from CBD COP10, which includes guidelines on the integration of migratory species into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs),Taking note of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022, which includes many goals and targets relevant to the conservation of migratory species and their habitats,Acknowledging the Critical Site Network Tool, an open-access web portal established by Wetlands International and BirdLife International to support conservation decision-making at site, national and international levels, which provides information on waterbird populations and sites critical to both their annual cycle, and for providing resilience to the impacts of climate change,Acknowledging with satisfaction the extensive monitoring and conservation work by Partners of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) for migratory waterbirds and their habitats, including through the strengthening of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Site Network and recognizing the development of the EAAFP Strategic Plan 2019-2029 with defined Key Result Areas and Indicators to promote actions to conserve migratory waterbirds and their habitats,Welcoming the progress made by the Government of India, hosting, in collaboration with the CMS Secretariat, the 4th meeting of the CAF Range States in May 2023 to establish the institutional framework and a road map to update the CAF Action Plan, and to advance the creation of a CMS-CAF Coordinating Unit for this flyway and congratulating India for its National Action Plan on the CAF for migratory birds, and progress in implementing the Action Plan,Recognizing also the vital importance of the Arctic as the location of breeding and moulting areas of the world’s major flyways and that the region is undergoing rapid change driven by climate effects, development of activities of major extractive industries, land and water transportation routes and other threats,Acknowledging the 2013 Resolution of Cooperation signed between the Secretariats of CMS and the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group (CAFF) of the Arctic Council and tripartite CAFF/CMS/AEWA joint work plan to encourage information sharing to assist in the conservation of migratory species along all the world’s flyways and to assist cooperation with non-Arctic countries on these issues, and welcoming the Arctic Migratory Birds Initiative and its associated 2019-2023 Work Plan,Recognizing also that climate change is already having an adverse impact on migratory birds and their habitats as reflected in Resolution 12.21 (Rev.COP14),Recalling Resolution 11.148, which reaffirmed the global open-ended Working Group on Flyways (hereinafter Flyways Working Group) within the framework of the Scientific Council to act as a think-tank on migratory bird flyways and frameworks,8Consolidated in Resolution 12.11 (Rev.COP14) FlywaysRecalling further that the Flyways Working Group was given the task of reviewing scientific and technical issues concerning the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats, and relevant international instruments, initiatives and processes, as the basis for future CMS policy on flyways,Noting with appreciation the broad participation and work undertaken by the Scientific Council, the Secretariats of the Ramsar Convention and AEWA, international NGOs (BirdLife International, Wetlands International), the Americas Waterbird Conservation Council, the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN), Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative (WHMSI), EAAFP, the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU (FACE) and international experts as well as a wider consultative group contributing to the work of the Flyways Working Group,Noting with appreciation the support and guidance provided by the Secretariat and the Standing Committee respectively to the operation of the Flyways Working Group throughout the intersessional periods,Further taking note of the report of the Global Waterbirds Flyways Workshop to promote exchange of Good Practice and Learning that took place in Seosan (Republic of Korea) on 17-20 October 2011, contained in document UNEP/CMS/lnf.10.41,Further taking note of the declaration and outcomes of the Global Flyways Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 2018,Considering that policies that encourage environmentally-friendly economic growth and development would be highly beneficial for migratory birds, including bird-friendly agricultural practices that also improve local livelihoods, and that these practices should be promoted along all flyways,Taking further note of the 2019-2020 workplan of the Americas Flyways Action Plan adopted as a result of the 1st Meeting of the Americas Flyways Framework (AFF) Task Force, which took place in Florianopolis, Brazil in July 2018, and noting the many ongoing activities in the Americas for the conservation of migratory birds,Welcoming World Migratory Bird Day as a joint, more unified, global campaign of CMS, AEWA, Environment for the Americas (EFTA) and the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), under a partnership established during the 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CMS, Manila, 2017, to strengthen recognition and appreciation of migratory birds and highlight the urgent need for their conservation,Noting the important habitat changes in non-breeding grounds in the Americas, particularly for shorebirds, and the indications of a decrease in numbers for almost all species of shorebirds,Noting that over 50% of the world’s seabird populations are in decline and that urgent coordinated conservation efforts at a global scale are needed, andRecognizing the ongoing efforts of various regional inter-governmental fora to advance seabird conservation and identify marine flyways, as well as the opportunity to advance the designation of Marine Protected Areas for seabirds and other marine fauna through the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ),The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals1.Calls on Parties to effectively implement the priorities set by the Flyways Working Group in accordance with the circumstances of each Party and invites non-Parties and other stakeholders, with the support of the Secretariat, to strengthen national and local capacity for flyway conservation including, inter alia, by developing partnerships with key stakeholders and organizing training courses; translating and disseminating documents, sharing protocols and regulations; transferring technology; designating and improving management of critically and internationally important sites; understanding the ecological functionality of flyways through research of migratory birds and their habitats; strengthening monitoring programmes; and promoting the conservation of migratory birds and ensuring any use of migratory birds is sustainable;2.Encourages Parties to promote the conservation and management priorities defined by the Flyways Working Group as global tools to contribute to achieving the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Frameworkjn relation to conservation of migratory species and their habitats and to ensure a strong level of support for its implementation by working closely with the Convention on Biological Diversity;3.Agrees to continue the Americas Flyways Task Force, to coordinate the development and implementation of the Americas Flyways Framework and the Americas Flyways Action Plan, developed in full alignment to the CMS Samarkand Strategic Plan for Migratory Species (SPMS), and to report to meetings of the Conference of the Parties from COP15 onwards;4.Urges Parties and Signatories to CMS avian instruments, and encourages non-Parties, organizations and stakeholders to implement the Action Plan for the Americas Flyways and support efforts of the Americas Flyways Task Force to coordinate its implementation;5.Requests Parties, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Environment Programme and other United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral donors, the private sector and others to provide financial assistance for the implementation of this Resolution including to developing countries for relevant capacity-building and conservation action;6.Welcomes the further efforts by the Government of India to continue the collaborative process, in close consultation with the CAF Range States and with the CMS and AEWA Secretariats, to develop under the CMS an institutional framework, with the Secretariat provided by the CMS Secretariat along with a coordinating office hosted by the Government of India, to support the implementation of increased conservation action for migratory birds and their habitats in the CAF, as well as to support this initiative with resources, in coordination with the existing CMS avian-related instruments;7.Further welcomes the commitment by the Government of India to provide resources for this process including the establishment of the institutional framework, and the provision of a coordinating unit in India, under the umbrella of the CMS Secretariat in Bonn;8.Further requests the continuation of the open-ended Flyways Working Group extending membership to incorporate expertise from geographical regions and relevant CMS bodies currently absent;9.Encourages the Secretariat to liaise with the secretariats of CMS instruments, relevant MEAs, international organizations, international conservation initiatives, NGOs and the private sector to promote synergies and coordinate activities related to the conservation of flyways and migratory birds including, where appropriate, the organization of back-to-back meetings and joint activities;10.Requests the Secretariat, Parties and all others involved with CMS, to seek actively closer cooperation among those instruments, initiatives and partnerships, within and outside the United Nations, relating to migratory birds and the habitats upon which they depend, and as a priority to focus on and address specific threats to halt the decline in the populations of these birds;11.Calls upon Parties and the CMS Secretariat to promote the collaborative conservation of migratory birds by working with other bodies whose prime objective is not wildlife conservation (governmental institutions, MEAs, UN institutions, non-governmental organizations and other organizations, including from the private sector), to ensure that the requirements of habitats of migratory birds are integrated into land-use and marine policies, including protected areas but also especially outside protected areas;12.Urges Parties, invites Range States and calls upon other partners and stakeholders, including the private sector, through formal designations and voluntary measures as appropriate, to afford high priority to the conservation of sites and habitats identified as being of importance to migratory birds (based on sound scientific information) expanding and strengthening existing flyway site networks (including inter alia the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Site Network, Raptors MOU Site Network (Table 3), African-Eurasian Waterbirds Agreement Site Network, Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, West/Central Asian Site Network, Emerald Network, Ramsar Sites and World Heritage Sites, Special Protection Areas, Key Biodiversity Areas, BirdLife International’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas), and to carry out work to determine how best to manage landscapes and seascapes, including the designation of protected trans-boundary habitat corridors and ecological networks with suitable and sufficient habitat in which to breed, forage and rest; and, to this end, make active use of the information and analytical modules offered by the African-Eurasian Bird Migration Atlas to better understand the role of existing networks of protected areas at the species/population flyway scale and to contribute to identifying gaps in these networks;13.Invites Parties to implement Resolution 12.21 (Rev.COP14) on climate change and continue taking action to mitigate the impacts of climate change on migratory bird species, including addressing immediate threats that might reduce adaptive potential, ensuring adequate environmental safeguards for renewable energy projects, monitoring the status of migratory birds and their habitats, developing indicators to identify the effects of climate change, promoting adaptive management, seeking new partnerships with other international bodies and considering how to assist species to adapt to climate change (e.g. through securing critical site networks);14.Requests Parties to review the coverage and protection status of current site networks taking into account any exploitation and degradation of sites, and to consider the resilience of sites to climate change, taking account of the potential for shifts in the range of species due to climate change, as well as other factors;15.Requests Parties to ensure that known key migratory stop-over sites are all protected and managed and additional sites identified to form part of coherent site networks for migratory species and to continue to support the development of flyway-scale site networks, especially where they are least developed, to include the widest possible range of available habitat for migratory birds, giving particular attention to tidal flats (see Resolution 12.25 Promoting Conservation of Critical Intertidal and Other Coastal Habitats for Migratory Species) as well as marine ecosystems;16.Urges Parties to foster trans-boundary collaboration within flyway networks and to implement existing site management plans and develop new ones, where needed, at key sites, supporting the development of a Global Critical Site Network Tool modelled on the redeveloped Critical Site Network Tool for the African-Eurasian flyways launched in 2018 to support the implementation of AEWA and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands;17.Recommends that Parties enhance and strengthen monitoring of migratory bird populations and the important sites upon which they rely (including surveying new sites to fill information gaps), and to increase capacity for and sustainability of such monitoring in the long term, where appropriate by institutionalizing it as an ongoing activity within government, in partnership with other organizations, including through provision of support initiatives such as the Global Waterbird Fund (established in response to the invitation of AEWA and the Ramsar Convention and managed by Wetlands International) in order to present to key stakeholders with up-to-date information on the distribution, status and trends of migratory birds and the sites and habitats that they need;18.Requests Parties to support analyses of existing datasets on individual bird movements and to support the development and use of new tools and techniques, including geolocators, radio and satellite tracking, remote sensing, and genetic and connectivity analyses, in order to help identify migration strategies, and important sites and routes whether of regular or occasional importance, covering the entire life cycle of species and to compile and analyse multi-species datasets to understand the relative importance and the geographical distribution of threats;19.Calls upon the Secretariat, in collaboration with Parties and relevant international organizations, to strengthen cooperation with the Arctic Council and other bodies focused on the Arctic in order to improve understanding of the ongoing and predicted changes to the environment and impacts on breeding and moulting distributions of species, and to ensure designation and management of all critically important areas;20.Requests the Secretariat to strengthen links with the Secretariat of the Arctic Council’s Working Group on the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), in the framework of the existing Resolution of Cooperation, especially to ensure that the CAFF Arctic Migratory Birds Initiative (AMBI) has maximum synergies with the priorities defined by the Flyways Working Group to capitalize on the flyway approach in gaining global support for the conservation of the arctic environment;21.Calls upon the Secretariat, in collaboration with Parties and relevant international organizations, to strengthen cooperation with the private sector to promote development and inclusion of flyway considerations into their operational guidance, to take up stewardship of areas directly linked to or associated with their footprint and beyond, to consider compensation for residual impacts along flyways, to strive for Net Positive Impact, and to be pro-active in using international best practice;22.Requests Parties, GEF, the United Nations and other international organizations, bilateral and multilateral donors, the private sector and others to provide financial assistance to developing and the least developed countries, countries with economies in transition, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and NGO partners for the implementation of this Resolution;23.Requests the Scientific Council to produce guidelines and/or case studies on mechanisms to enhance the conservation of migratory birds through site networks, including important oceanic ecosystems used by marine bird species;24.Calls on Parties to ensure that the priorities of the Flyways Working Group are in line with the CMS SPMS and are aligned to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework as a contribution for the 2050 vision for biodiversity; and25.Notes that the following recommendations and resolutions were repealed by previous meetings of the Conference of the Parties:a)Recommendation 7.7, America Pacific Flyway Programmeb)Resolution 10.10, Guidance on Global Flyway Conservation and Options for Policy Arrangements, andc)Resolution 11.14, Programme of Work on Migratory Birds and Flyways.