UN Report: Insect Population Decline Threatens Migratory Birds

And finally … ahead of World Migratory Bird Day 2024 tomorrow

UN Report: Insect Population Decline Threatens Migratory Birds - World Migratory Bird Day

World Migratory Bird Day 2024 Campaign Spotlights Importance of Insects for Migratory Birds and Calls for Global Action to Address this Emerging Threat

An image of a Hoopoe, a pinkish brown bird with black and white striped wings and a pinkish brown crest. It has an insect in its long curved beak. — Image: World Migratory Bird Day

On the second annual commemoration of World Migratory Bird Day 2024 on 12 October, the international campaign, organized by a network of global partners, calls for urgent and sustained action to protect both migratory birds and the insects they depend on for survival. This year’s theme, “Protect Insects, Protect Birds”, emphasizes the critical role insects play in the lifecycle of many migratory birds and draws attention to the alarming global decline in insect populations.

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) –a biodiversity treaty of the United Nations and one of the main partners behind the World Migratory Bird Day campaign– prepared the first study of its kind on insect decline and its relevance for migratory species, which it presented at its Fourteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP14) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Insect Decline and its Threat to Migratory Insectivorous Animal Populations found that insect decline is contributing to population losses of many migratory insectivorous (insect-eating) species, particularly those which rely on them as their main source of food. Insects are essential to the survival of not just migratory birds worldwide, but also bats and fish. Their decline could also have indirect effects by altering ecosystem functions and the habitats therein –such as changing vegetation, which in turn may provide less cover for ground-breeding species, or supply less insect-pollinated fruits for frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds.

“Despite variations in magnitude across ecosystems and regions, scientific evidence revealed that without doubt, we face an insect decline on a global scale. This can be measured for example as the losses in total insect biomass or species richness over time,” said Dr David Ott from the German Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) and one of the authors of the report. “To deal with the effects of insect decline, we need to understand that species are part of complex, interconnected communities, and that biodiversity is essential for ecosystems to work properly and provide services to humans. The causes of insect decline are also not separate, but a mix of several connected factors,” he continued.