Confronted with stark new evidence that many migratory species are moving closer to extinction, governments at a major UN wildlife conservation meeting today agreed on expanded conservation efforts, including new or enhanced treaty protections for 40 species and populations of birds, aquatic wildlife, and terrestrial animals.
Meeting in Brazil, Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) adopted several measures to strengthen global or regional conservation efforts of such iconic species as the cheetah, striped hyena, snowy owl, giant otter, great hammerhead shark, and several shorebird species facing steep population declines (lists appended).
Parties agreed to list the 40 additional species or populations of species on CMS Appendices I (species in danger of extinction) or II (species in need of coordinated international action), which now include over 1,200 unique species under the 47-year-old Convention.
They also approved multi-species conservation plans in key regions such as the Amazon.
The week-long CMS COP15 opened with new findings that key indicators for many treaty-protected species continue to trend downward, reinforcing warnings that habitat loss, overexploitation, and infrastructure barriers are accelerating declines across species that traverse national borders.
The conference also highlighted a growing need to address threats such as deep-sea mining, climate change, plastic pollution, underwater noise, illegal wildlife killing, fisheries bycatch, and marine pollution.
CMS COP15 began with strong political and scientific warnings: migratory species are in accelerating decline and international cooperation is required to effectively respond.
- The State of the World’s Migratory Species: Interim Report (2026) report underlined that key biodiversity indicators are trending negatively, with rising extinction risk and population declines
- Scientific and political leaders, including Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Santiago Peña of Paraguay, underlined threats such as habitat fragmentation, bycatch, illegal killing, and infrastructure barriers
- Parties emphasized ecological connectivity, international cooperation, expanded partnerships with CITES, IPBES, and other multilateral agreements
- There was a strong push to integrate Indigenous and local knowledge into scientific considerations, with a parallel debate on how to balance scientific rigor with multiple knowledge systems
