Nearly half of all migratory bird species are in decline, with one in nine threatened with extinction, according to a landmark report launched Friday at the Global Flyways Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. Conservationists at the gathering warned that degraded habitats and human pressures are pushing species toward widespread collapse.
The Nairobi Flyways Declaration and the State of Global Bird Populations
Delegates gathered at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi for the first-ever Global Flyways Summit held in Africa during the launch of the Nairobi Flyways Declaration. The newly signed agreement acknowledges that migratory birds’ survival depends on coordinated action by stakeholders across entire flyways rather than isolated conservation efforts.
The summit marked the release of the State of the World’s Birds report, which documents severe pressures on avian species worldwide. Imperial Highness Princess Takamado, Honorary President of BirdLife International, emphasized the transboundary nature of the crisis during the launch event.
Migratory birds do not recognise borders. They connect Asia to Africa, the Arctic to the tropics. The Nairobi Flyways Declaration acknowledges this reality. I am proud to see the scientific community, conservation organisations and finance institutions united behind the science. This is the moment we have been waiting for,she said. Takamado, whose love for birds started at a tender age, said every bird in the skies is a guest from somewhere, reiterating that their flyways must be protected at all costs. Birds are an inspiration to all humanity in the arts, in paintings, in music, in poetry, in literature. Birds have always been an inspiration to people. When I was a child, I just enjoyed collecting feathers, listening to birdsong, and finding birds' nests. Honorary President
Human Drivers and the Extinction of the Slender-Billed Curlew
The decline of migratory birds is driven by well-documented human activities. Experts pointed to agricultural intensification, invasive species, climate change, and unsustainable hunting as primary catalysts for population loss.
Paul Matiku, executive director of Nature Kenya, stressed that local environmental degradation exacerbates the crisis. We should look at the way we live, manage land, dispose wastes, use fertilizer and the way land gets degraded,
he said. He added that a polluted lake in a system where the surrounding area is dry, degraded and full of silt is not going to deliver the ingredients required by birds to be able to survive.
The toll of these pressures is already visible in recent extinctions. The 2025 extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew, last recorded at a Moroccan lagoon in February 1995, marked the first global bird extinction in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries, with six other migratory species confirmed or suspected to have been lost in the last 150 years.
Habitat Degradation and the Vulnerability of Flyways
Assessment data covering the past decade reveals that 58 per cent of the most important sites for migratory birds are in poor or very poor condition. Stuart Butchart, chief scientist at BirdLife International, noted that seabirds, shorebirds, and species utilizing the East Asian-Australasian flyway face particularly acute risks.
Despite these grim findings, Butchart highlighted the extraordinary physical journeys these species undertake twice a year. From arctic turns, flying from pole to pole, chinstrap penguins swim 4,700km from their breeding colonies to seasonal feeding areas, while bar-tailed goblins can fly nonstop 13,000km from New Zealand to Alaska in a single flight,
he explained.
Conservation Successes and the Global Financing Gap
Conservation science offers tangible proof that coordinated interventions can reverse downward population trends. When farming, fishing and land practices are addressed across a whole migration route rather than at single sites, bird populations respond. As a notable example, multi-country action for the Egyptian Vulture has halted the decline of the Balkan breeding population.
Similarly, a coordinated four-year moratorium agreed across France, Spain, and Portugal helped the Western flyway population rise by more than 40 per cent since 2021. Across all global flyways, the average protection of key sites has grown from 11 per cent in 1980 to 49 per cent.
Translating these localized successes to a global scale requires substantial capital. Martin Harper, chief executive officer of BirdLife International, called for sustained financing to support effective conservation. He said although world leaders agreed in 2022 to mobilize new funding to help reverse declines in wildlife populations, the global biodiversity financing gap continues to grow and is now estimated at $900 billion annually, leaving governments and financial institutions under intense pressure to bridge the shortfall.
