Global conservation push launched in Nairobi as migratory birds decline 45%
(L-R) Martin Harper, CEO, BirdLife International; Dr. Paul Matiku, Executive Director, Nature Kenya; and HIH Princess Takamado, Honorary President, BirdLife International, during the launch of the Nairobi Flyways Declaration. Signed at the first ever Global Flyways Summit held in Africa, the Nairobi Flyways Declaration recognises migratory birds’ survival depends on coordinated action by stakeholders across entire flyways.
Governments, scientists, conservationists, NGOs and financial institutions have committed to coordinated protection of migratory bird routes as a new report warns that 45 per cent of migratory bird species are in decline.
The commitment was made in Nairobi during the Global Flyways Summit, where stakeholders signed the Nairobi Flyways Declaration to strengthen protection of migratory routes across borders.
The summit also saw the unveiling of BirdLife International’s State of the World’s Birds report, the first edition devoted to migratory birds and the flyways they depend on.
Migratory bird species face growing threats
The report warns that one in nine migratory bird species is threatened with extinction, with seabirds and shorebirds among the most affected.
The 2025 extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew, last recorded at a Moroccan lagoon in February 1995, marked the first global bird extinction in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries.
The report attributes the declines to human-caused factors, including invasive species, agricultural intensification, climate change and unsustainable hunting.
BirdLife International Chief Scientist Dr Stuart Butchart said coordinated conservation efforts could prevent extinctions and help bird populations recover.
“Migratory birds are sentinels, and their declines reveal growing pressure on the natural systems that sustain us,” he said.
More than KSh775bn in conservation finance
The declaration comes alongside more than $6 billion, equivalent to about KSh776.7 billion, in conservation finance being mobilised by three multilateral development banks since 2021.
The Asian Development Bank is mobilising $3 billion, about KSh388.4 billion, over the next decade to protect at least 50 priority wetlands along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
In the Americas, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean is mobilising $3 billion to $5 billion, about KSh388.4 billion to KSh647.3 billion, through 2050 to safeguard more than 30 landscapes and seascapes.
The World Bank and BirdLife are also mobilising several billion dollars across Africa, Europe and Asia.
Africa takes central role in conservation
Nature Kenya Executive Director Dr Paul Matiku said African countries were not only stakeholders but also stewards of solutions.
“The birds that breed in Europe, Asia and the Arctic depend on our wetlands, grasslands and forests,” he said.
The Global Environment Facility also approved a Global Flyways Grant Mechanism in June 2026, providing $8.97 million, about KSh1.16 billion, in direct grants and $107 million, about KSh13.8 billion, in co-financing for conservation and restoration across nine million hectares of wetlands.
BirdLife International said its Global Flyways Programme aims to protect entire migration routes by bringing partners together across breeding grounds, stopover sites and non-breeding areas.
The initiative seeks to address conservation beyond individual sites, species and national borders, recognising that damage to one part of a flyway can put the entire network at risk.
