Prelims: Environment (flyways for birds), Central Asian Flyway, Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
Mains: General Studies-III Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
Why in the News ?
The Fourteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP 14) adopted the Initiative for the Central Asian Flyway introduced by India on February 17, 2024.
Source: DTE
Key Facts 🗝️
- There are nine flyways in the world.
- Geographically the flyway region covers 30 countries of North, Central and South Asia and Trans-Caucasus.
📌 FYI on Prelims:
Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
- It is an intergovernmental treaty under the UNEP known as Bonn Convention.
- It was signed in 1979 and in force since 1983.
- As of 1 March 2022, the CMS has 133 Parties.
- India is also a party to CMS since 1983.
- Aim: It aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range.
- It lays the legal foundation to conduct conservation measures on a global scale.
- Two appendices under CMS:
- Appendix I – ‘Threatened Migratory Species’.
- Appendix II -‘Migratory Species requiring international cooperation’.
- India has signed a non-legally binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CMS on conservation and management of Siberian Cranes (1998), Marine Turtles (2007), Dugongs (2008), and Raptors (2016).
- India provides temporary shelter to several migratory species – Amur Falcons, Bar-headed Geese, Black-necked Cranes, Marine Turtles, Dugongs, Humpback Whales, etc.
About:
Central Asian Flyway:
- Area: It covers a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic and Indian Oceans and the associated island chains.
- A flyway is a geographical region within which a single or group of migratory species completes its annual cycle — breeding, moulting, staging and non-breeding.
- There is an overlap between the CAF and the area of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), which was concluded in 1995, at The Hague, the Netherlands.
- Sixteen out of the thirty countries encompassed by the CAF are located in the AEWA Agreement Area.
- CAF migration routes include the steppes and cold deserts of Central Eurasia, and much of the Himalayan chain, where unique, high-altitude migrations such as those of the Bar-headed Goose, Anser indicus, take place.
India’s Initiative:
- National Action Plan for the Conservation of Migratory Birds (2018-2023): India has launched the National Action Plan for the conservation of migratory species along the Central Asian Flyway.
- The 14 species which will be listed in CMS appendices include Eurasian Lynx, Peruvian Pelican, Pallas’s Cat, Guanaco, Laulao Catfish, Balkan Lynx, Lahille’s Bottlenose Dolphin, Harbour Porpoise, Magellanic Plover, Bearded Vulture, Blackchin Guitarfish, Bull Ray, Lusitanian Cownose Ray and Gilded Catfish.
UPSC CSE EXAMS Corner
Prelims: PYQ/FAQ
Q. With reference to Flyways, consider the following statements.
1.Geographically, 3 global flyways pass through India.
2.Bonn Convention is the only global convention specializing in the conservation of migratory species and their Flyways.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 and 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: c. Both 1 and 2
Explaination:
- A flyway is a geographical region within which a single or a group of migratory species completes its annual cycle – breeding, moulting, staging and non-breeding.
- Central Asian Flyway (CAF), East Asian Australasian Flyway and Asian East African Flyway are the three flyways pass through India.
- Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) or the Bonn Convention: It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of UNEP. It was signed in 1979 in Bonn, Germany, and entered into force in 1983. It is the only global convention specializing in the conservation of migratory species, their habitats and migration routes.
