The two day Online Meeting of Range countries began today with a resolve to strengthen the conservation actions for migratory birds and their habitats in the Central Asian Flyway. Central Asian Flyway (CAF) covers a large area of Eurasia between the Arctic and Indian Oceans. This flyway comprises several important migration routes of birds. Including India, there are 30 countries under the Central Asian Flyway.

Delivering the Keynote address, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav said that considering the key importance of  conservation of migratory birds, Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi during the opening ceremony of the 13^th meeting  of the Conference of Parties (CoP) to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), held at Gandhinagar in February, 2020, had noted that India was keen to take the conservation of migratory birds to a new paradigm with active cooperation of all the Central Asian Flyway Range Countries and would be happy to facilitate preparation of Action Plan for other countries  for conservation of migratory birds along the Central Asian Flyway.

During the CMS COP 13, a resolution (UNEP/CMS/Resolution 12.11 (Rev.COP13) and Decision 13.46  were  adopted  initer-alia  providing for establishing, by COP14, under the umbrella of CMS an institutional framework, under the leadership of India and in consultation with the other range states and relevant stakeholders with the aim to agree on, inter alia, conservation priorities and related actions, and measures to support Parties with the implementation of conservation action for migratory birds in the region, including by promoting research, studies, assessments, capacity building and conservation initiatives thereby further strengthening the implementation of CMS and its avian-related instruments.

With a view to fulfill its commitment, India is organizing  two day online meeting on 6^th -7^th October 2021 with CAF Range Countries, anchored in Wildlife Institute of India, wherein, India would be sharing its best practices on conservation of migratory birds and the National Action Plan,  with the CAF range countries. The meeting would also share information on  activities and conservation priorities, and actions taking place within the CAF. The meeting would be attended by representatives from the CAF range countries, representatives from CMS, its sister organizations, experts in field from across the globe, scientists, officials and representatives from State/Union Territory Governments, etc.

Shri Yadav in his address emphasized on the essential and indispensable roles migratory birds play in the ecosystems they reside in and travel through and stressed that habitats that birds use for refueling can be effectively managed with coordinated information sharing.

At the meeting of the 30 range countries of the Central Asian Flyway, emphasised on knowledge sharing and taking forward the CAF initiative to strengthen the conservation actions for migratory birds and their habitats on one of the most important of the 9 flyways in the world. pic.twitter.com/29oGk5OtCb

— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) October 6, 2021

Approximately one in five of the world's 11,000 bird species11,000 bird species migrate, some covering enormous distances. Conserving migratory birds requires cooperation and coordination along the entire flyway between countries and across national boundaries.

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GK