The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) is a legally binding international treaty under the United Nations. CMS is one of the most important global frameworks for wildlife conservation and plays a vital role in addressing the global biodiversity crisis.

Migratory species are vital for the well-functioning of nature. They provide benefits for ecosystems and human well-being, such as pollination, seed dispersal, pest and disease control, carbon storage, and nutrient cycling. Likewise, migratory species also provide direct economic benefits from recreation and tourism, and some are an important source of food.

Migratory species continue to face global declines and an increasing extinction risk, with habitat loss, overexploitation, pollution, climate change and invasive species identified as the most severe threats.

Following the recent launch of the State of the World’s Migratory Species interim report, the CMS COP15 will bring together governments, scientists, conservationists, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, environmental leaders, and civil society from around the world to address urgent conservation challenges facing migratory species that cross international boundaries. 

Why wetlands?

This is the first time CMS COP is hosted in Brazil, the world’s most biodiverse country, and at the gates of the Pantanal region, the world’s largest tropical wetland, a Wetlands International flagship landscape, and home to our Brazil office in Campo Grande.

Wetlands sustain a wide variety of migratory species from birds like the Hudsonian Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, Lesser Yellowlegs; to freshwater fish like salmon trouth and the spotted sorubim; to mammals like the dugong and wildebeest; to reptiles like sea turtles. Wetlands like mangroves, rivers, lakes, swamps and seagrass meadows offer shelter, food, water, and nursing grounds to these migratory animals.

Wetlands International specifically works on several initiatives for migratory birds. We play a key role in flyways conservation and in agreements and partnerships such as AEWA, the EAAFP, the CAF, and the Americas flyway. We coordinate the International Waterbird Census, the Global Waterbirds Estimates Partnership and the Waterbird Fund. Our Aquatic Warblers on the Move project focuses on Continental Europe’s rarest migratory songbird which flies more than 12,000 km from Eastern Europe to West Africa and back; and our initiative Climate Resilience for Migratory Birds and People along the East Atlantic Flyway,  is protecting the ecosystems and communities in 11 countries along the East Atlantic Flyway, one of the world’s most important migratory routes for waterbirds. 

In addition to our work on flyways, our programmes on swimways contribute significantly to the enhancement of ecological connectivity.  Wetlands International produced the first-ever inventory of Swimways of European Importance and is working with partners in the Global Swimways programme to foster international cooperation, improve scientific knowledge and guidance, support strengthening of policies, and accelerate practical action.   

Our objectives

1. Showcase and link Pantanal conservation with global migratory species efforts (learn more about our work in the Pantal via the blogs below).
2. Promote our swimways and flyways programmes (listed above) and ambitions (including threat of lithium mining to high Andean wetlands on Americas flyway).  
3. Explore partnerships and routes for mobilising finance and action to deliver our biodiversity and species related targets in the our strategy 
4. Support the adoption of key negotiated outcomes including on:  
   • Freshwater fishes: such as the Amazon catfish action plan and the proposal to list spotted sorubim on Appendix II; additional regional assessments (particularly the La Plata/Paraná, rivers of Africa, and the Mekong);  the establishment of an official CMS Working Group on migratory freshwater fishes; Green List assessments of select migratory freshwater fish; an updated assessment of the most important and threatened free-flowing rivers; and an assessment of the impacts of bycatch on migratory freshwater fishes. 
   • Listing of waterbirds: such as the Hudsonian Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, and Lesser Yellowlegs.
   • Decisions and resolutions on: Connectivity; Flyways; Climate; Renewables; and Infrastructure. 

Find us at CMS COP15

25 March

• Civil Society Contributions to Wetland Governance: Interfaces between the Ramsar COP and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
• Integrated Monitoring and Fire Management for Migratory Species and Wetland Conservation in the Paraguay-Paraná Wetland System: 12:45-13:30 in Room 5.

26 March

• From Biocultural Corridors to Citizen Science Initiatives: Strengthening Ecological Connectivity for Migratory Species Conservation along the Paraguay–Paraná Wetland System: 12:45-13:30 in Room 4.