How Audubon Science Informs a New Global Effort to Protect Migratory Birds
Using the best available research to identify habitats and species that would benefit from sustainable development, the Flyways Nature Bond Framework represents the future of hemispheric conservation.
As billions of birds embark on their southbound journeys to their non-breeding grounds, they will encounter numerous challenges along the way. After all, migration season is statistically the deadliest time of year for birds, where mortality rates rise compared to the relatively stationary breeding and non-breeding seasons. For instance, Audubon science has demonstrated that southbound migration for warbler species is the most dangerous time of their full annual cycle.
For birds to have a safe and successful spring and fall migration, they need habitat across their annual cycles where they can rest, refuel, and seek shelter.
Earlier this fall, halfway around the world in Kenya, a coalition of leaders from Audubon, BirdLife International, and CAF – the Development Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean formally kicked off the Flyways Nature Bond Framework, an initiative to accelerate conservation to protect birds, their habitats and the communities that cherish and depend on them along their flyways.
Using the best available science, Audubon, along with our partners from Americas Flyways Initiative, selected 112 representative migratory bird species in the Americas, along whose migratory routes investing in bird-friendly infrastructure and natural climate solutions would create the greatest impact for overall conservation. For birds and communities alike, migration science is pointing out where to invest our efforts. Science provides a framework to serve decision makers across the hemisphere as precious conservation dollars are allocated in the most impactful ways. To achieve this, it promotes two types of projects: Nature-based Solutions to conserve and restore critical habitats for migratory birds, and the integration of bird-safe and bird-friendly design criteria into infrastructure projects to mitigate the growing risk of collisions along migratory routes.
Across the flyways of the Americas, nearly half of all migratory birds in the hemisphere are in decline. In the United States and Canada alone, migratory breeding birds have dropped by almost 2.5 billion since 1970, and another 460 species are threatened in Latin America and the Caribbean. For birds that cross continents, a loss counted in one place often traces back to pressures thousands of miles away.
For example, the Hudsonian Godwit completes a herculean journey from southern Chile to the Canadian tundra and back every year. Godwits face pressure from challenges like sea-level rise, light pollution, and human infrastructure like communications towers and power lines. See their migration map below:
The Flyways Nature Bond Framework is designed to structure bonds that deliver benefits far beyond bird conservation. The same wetlands, forests, grasslands and coastal areas that sustain migratory birds also protect communities by reducing flood and storm risks, storing carbon, safeguarding water supplies, supporting local livelihoods, and strengthening climate resilience.
To stay informed on the Flyways Nature Bond Framework, please stay tuned for updates on Audubon.org.
To read our earlier blog by Aurelio Ramos, managing director for Latin America and Caribbean, about the importance of investing in sustainable development, please click here.
To read more about this initiative in Spanish, please click here.
