Nairobi hosts global summit as migratory bird species decline by 45pc
Governments, scientists, conservationists and financial institutions on Thursday signed the Nairobi Flyways Declaration, committing to coordinated protection of migratory bird routes across borders, as three multilateral development banks confirmed more than $6 billion in conservation finance mobilised since 2021.
The declaration was signed at the Global Flyways Summit in Nairobi, where BirdLife International also launched its State of the World’s Birds report, the first edition dedicated to migratory birds and the flyways they depend on.
The report found that 45 per cent of migratory bird species are in decline, with one in nine threatened with extinction. It cited the 2025 extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew, last recorded in Morocco in February 1995, as the first global bird extinction recorded in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries. Six other migratory species are confirmed or suspected lost over the past 150 years, with seabirds and shorebirds among the hardest hit.
Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado, Honorary President of BirdLife International, said the declaration reflected a turning point for conservation efforts. “Migratory birds do not recognise borders. They connect Asia to Africa, the Arctic to the tropics. The Nairobi Flyways Declaration acknowledges this reality,” she said.
Senior representatives from the World Bank and regional development banks attended the summit as three institutions moved to integrate flyway conservation into their lending frameworks. The Asian Development Bank is mobilising $3 billion over the next decade to protect at least 50 priority wetlands across the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, supporting close to 200 million people who depend on the ecosystems.
The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean is mobilising $3 billion to $5 billion through 2050 to safeguard more than 30 landscapes and seascapes, while the World Bank and BirdLife International are jointly mobilising several billion dollars across Africa, Europe and Asia along flyways used by more than two billion migratory birds.
In June, the Global Environment Facility approved the Global Flyways Grant Mechanism, setting aside $8.97 million in direct grants and $107 million in co-financing for conservation and restoration across nine million hectares of wetlands, a move expected to benefit an estimated 330,000 people.
Dr Paul Matiku, Executive Director of Nature Kenya, said African nations were central to the effort. “The birds that breed in Europe, Asia and the Arctic depend on our wetlands, grasslands and forests. The Nairobi Declaration and finance commitments recognise that African nations are not just stakeholders: we are stewards of solutions,” he said.
BirdLife International Chief Executive Martin Harper said the report’s findings underscored the urgency of coordinated action. “We are losing migratory birds at an alarming rate. But today’s Nairobi Declaration signals a turning point. We need everyone to step up and play their part,” he said.
Dr Stuart Butchart, Chief Scientist at BirdLife International and senior editor of the report, said the declines were driven by well-understood, human-caused factors including invasive species, agricultural intensification, climate change and unsustainable hunting, but added that coordinated conservation had already shown results, citing multi-country action that halted the decline of the Balkan breeding population of the Egyptian Vulture.
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