Global task force to curb hunting of birds on anvil

New Delhi, Oct 17 : An inter-governmental task force to curb illegal killing of birds crossing one of the world's greatest migration paths will be high on the agenda at this year's largest wildlife summit beginning this month, an official said on Tuesday.

The East Asian-Australasian Flyway spans 22 countries from the Russian Federation to Alaska in the United States in the north, through much of Eastern Asia to the Western Pacific and Australia and New Zealand in the south.

Millions of migratory birds, which travel along the Flyway twice yearly, will receive greater protection if the proposal is adopted.

Delegates from over 120 countries will gather in the Philippines from October 23 to 28 for the 12th triennial meeting of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) or COP12, where they will consider the submission.

"Intensive hunting and illegal killings are driving many endangered bird species to the brink of extinction. Countries which they transit share a joint responsibility to implement measures to protect them," CMS Executive Secretary Bradnee Chambers said in an official statement.

According to Chambers, the proposed task force for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway feeds into a wider, collaborative strategy to combat global wildlife crime and strengthen efforts to ensure that migratory species are managed sustainably and legally.

The Task Force on Illegal Hunting, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway will build on the successes of a similar initiative for migratory birds in the Mediterranean, agreed upon at COP11 in Quito in Ecuador in 2014.

The Mediterranean task force has proved to be a key forum to promote the exchange of best practices and information between countries facing the challenges and also with other members of the task force.

Migratory birds face many threats over the long distances they travel. Most notable is the destruction of their habitats, which are critical for feeding, resting and breeding.

Yet, in many parts of the world, birds are being deliberately and illegally killed, trapped, or traded at an unprecedented scale.

According to BirdLife International, around 25 million birds are killed annually in the Mediterranean, with some species now at risk, including the pallid harriers, Egyptian vultures and several species of songbird.

In India, too, millions of migratory birds descend across the country to avoid the extreme winter chill in their native habitats. Many of them never return to their breeding grounds, say ornithologists.

Scientists, mainly from Mysuru's Nature Conservation Foundation, during their recent fieldwork in 27 wetlands in Tamil Nadu's Kanchipuram district, estimated that at least 1,700 waterbirds, mainly large and medium-sized, are hunted every year in each wetland. They say hunting is widespread from December to April -- the peak season for winter migrants.

"This translates to hundreds of thousands of waterbirds being killed every year across India in non-protected wetlands. Such a high scale of hunting was unknown previously, and is not sustainable," Ramesh Ramachandran, a Research Associate with the Cranes and Wetlands Programme of the Nature Conservation Foundation, told IANS.

In Tamil Nadu alone, the winter migrants include the ruff -- a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes, common sandpiper, great cormorant, common teal, red-crested pochard and common pochard.

"All of these migratory species are falling prey to poaching," he added.