Message from the Director of the World Heritage Centre on World Migratory Bird Day

With the slogan “ … and when the skies fall silent?",  the World Migratory Bird Day 2016  on 10 May aims to highlight the incredible numbers of migratory birds being threatened and lost each year . This is often linked to illicit activities are various and the toll that they are taking is disastrous – millions of birds are being killed each year.  Such numbers are totally unsustainable and are, alongside other pressures such as habitat loss and climate change, leading to many once common species being threatened with extinction.

Since the first World Migratory Bird Day in 2006, events have been held in more than 130 countries. This year’s theme aims to stop the illegal killing, taking and trade of migratory birds. 

On the occasion of the World Migratory Bird Day, the World Heritage Centre wishes to draw attention to the importance of World Heritage sites for migratory birds.  A number of sites across the five continents contain critical habitats and refuges vital for migratory birds, such as:

• Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves (Niger)
• Banc d'Arguin National Park (Mauritania)
• Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System (Belize)
• Blue and John Crow Mountains (Jamaica)
• Comoé National Park (Côte d'Ivoire)
• Danube Delta (Romania)
• Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (Senegal)
• Doñana National Park (Spain)
• Everglades National Park (United States of America)
• Ichkeul National Park (Tunisia)
• iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa)
• Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico)
• Kaziranga National Park (India)
• Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley (Kenya)
• Keoladeo National Park (India)
• Pantanal Conservation Area (Brazil)
• Saryarka – Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)
• Shiretoko (Japan)
• Srebarna Nature Reserve (Bulgaria)
• Sundarbans National Park (India)
• The Sundarbans (Bangladesh)
• Tikal National Park (Guatemala)
• Uvs Nuur Basin (Mongolia/Russian Federation)
• Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Wadden Sea (Denmark/ Germany/Netherlands)
• Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino (Mexico)
• Wood Buffalo National Park (Canada)

The World Heritage Centre encourages communities that help conserve these sites and works closely with the Secretariats of the seven biodiversity related Conventions, including with the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), to improve the conservation of protected areas relevant for migratory birds along their flyways.

Join the celebration of the World Migratory Bird Day at http://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/