COP15: "49% of migratory species populations are declining while 24% are facing extinction" (UNEP-WCMC)

What the 2024 State of the World’s Migratory Species report said

"The 2024 State of the World’s Migratory Species report marked the first comprehensive global assessment of migratory animals, covering the 1 189 species listed at that time in CMS Appendices I and II and its analysis linked to over 3 000 additional migratory species", stressed CMS.

It found that:

• "70 CMS-listed species had become more endangered over the previous three decades, compared to just 14 that improved in status.
• Migratory fish populations had declined by 90% on average since the 1970s and 97% of CMS-listed migratory fish species face extinction.
• More than half of Key Biodiversity Areas important for CMS-listed species lacked protected status".

"386 of the 1 189 CMS-listed species re-assessed since the 2024 analysis"

"Since the previous analysis, which used version 2022-2 of the IUCN Red List, 386 of the 1200 CMS-listed species have been re-assessed, excluding species that were listed at COP14", specifies the interim update.

"A closer look at the changes that have occurred within this group of re-assessed species can provide valuable insights on changes in conservation status.

The situation exposed by the 2026 report

"The total number of globally threatened CMS-listed species now stands at 284, representing 24% of all CMS-listed species, slightly up from the 22% reported in the first State of the World’s Migratory Species", states the report.

19 of the 26 species that have recently moved to a more threatened category, are now categorized as “Critically Endangered”, “Endangered” or “Vulnerable” . Of these 19 globally threatened species, 12 were previously categorized as “Least Concern” or “Near Threatened” in the preceding assessment.

By contrast, "7 CMS-listed species have an improved conservation status since 2022. These include four bird species that have moved from “Near Threatened” to “Least Concern”".

Changes in population trends : "592 species have decreasing population" (49%)

"Updates to the IUCN Red List have also resulted in changes to population trends of CMS-listed species. Excluding the ten entirely new species and subspecies that were added to the CMS Appendices at COP14, the overall proportion of CMS-listed species with an increasing or stable population trend has declined from 43% (520 species) to 38% (459 species) since the first State of the World’s Migratory Species."

"This indicates that many species that were previously considered to be stable are actually decreasing; importantly, the number of species considered to have an “unknown” trend has remained roughly constant".

Viewed as a whole, "these updated statistics present a concerning picture: the total number of CMS-listed species that have decreasing population trends now stands at 592, or almost half (49%) of all CMS-listed species, up from the 44% reported in the State of the World’s Migratory Species".

Recent progress in identifying and protecting critical sites

"Many migratory species rely on a network of areas and discrete sites that provide vitally important breeding, non-breeding, feeding or stopover habitat. This section provides a summary of recent progress in identifying and protecting critical sites for CMS-listed species globally, building on an analysis conducted for the first State of the World’s Migratory Species".

"Tackling the loss, degradation and fragmentation of important habitats for migratory species is also crucial for achieving multiple targets included in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework", highlights the report.

Multiple approaches have been developed to identify important areas for biodiversity globally. These include :

• Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), developed as an umbrella approach for identifying important sites for all taxonomic groups, ecosystems, ecological integrity, biological processes and irreplaceability ;
• other specific initiatives with a global scope, such as Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) and Important Marine Turtle Areas (IMTAs)

"Of the 1 189 CMS-listed species, 782 (65%) have had at least one important site or area recognized through one or more of these initiatives at the time of writing (September 2025). Of the 16 589 KBAs that have been recognized globally to date, 9 372 (56%) have been identified as being important for 718 (60%) of the 1 189 CMS-listed species".

Recent progress in mapping migratory pathways

"Mapping the world’s migration pathways is a crucial step towards ensuring that migratory populations can continue to safely access the vital breeding, foraging and resting areas that they need to survive.

Migration maps derived from empirical tracking data allow migratory animals themselves to tell us which seasonal ranges or corridors are most crucial over the course of their life cycle.

The recent growth in animal tracking research has drastically improved the state of knowledge in this area, by enabling migration routes to be mapped in unprecedented detail, and by facilitating the discovery of previously unknown migratory pathways".

The report underscores three initiatives "that have been at the forefront of recent efforts to map migrations :

• the Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration (GIUM), a module of the CMS Atlas of Migration ;
• the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO) system ;
• and the Marine Flyways identified by BirdLife International".