It said the impact should not only be on migratory birds
populations, but also on the natural resources, economy and well-being
as a whole.
The call was contained in a statement issued in Accra by Nana
Kofi Adu-Nsiah, Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of the
Forestry Commission in a message to mark World Migratory Bird Day
2011.
The World Migratory Bird Day, celebrated in the second week of
May each year, is a global initiative devoted to creating awareness to
promote the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats
worldwide.
The day is organised by the Secretariats of the African-Eurasian
Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) and the Convention on Migratory
Species (CMS) – two international wildlife treaties administered by
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
On this day, people around the world take action and organise
events such as bird festivals, education programmes and birdwatching
excursions to help raise awareness around specific themes.
The theme for this year’s World Migratory Bird Day is “Land use
changes from a bird’s-eye view” and focuses on the negative effects
human activities are having on migratory birds, their habitats and the
planet’s natural environment.
In Ghana, the Wildlife Division is organising educational talk
for school children at the Celebrity Golf Club and bird watching at
the Sakumo Ramsar Site, near Tema on Friday 13 May, 2011.
Whiles using the occasion to educate school children on the
importance of migratory birds as indicators of environmental change,
they would take the opportunity to draw attention of the general
public to the spate of unsustainable land use change, such as,
encroachment on wetlands including the Sakumo Ramsar Site.
“We will also call for a better planning and control systems to
reduce the impacts, not only on migratory birds populations, but also
on our natural resources, economy and well-being as a whole, “the
statement added.
Flying thousands of kilometres each year, migratory birds have a
unique view of the Earth. This view enables them to notice the
remarkable changes, which are currently threatening many of the
planet’s ecosystems.
Each year more and more sites, such as coastal wetlands, that the
migratory birds depend on during their journeys either diminish in
size or disappear completely.
The majority of these changes is caused by human use of land and
has a direct impact on migratory bird populations, which are
particularly sensitive to any interference to the sites they use
throughout their migratory cycle.
Many aspects of human land use are extremely damaging to the
birds’ habitats. For example, urbanisation and intensive agriculture
can fragment and replace complex networks of habitats needed by the
birds.
Deforestation and mineral extraction can damage entire area used
by birds’ during their annual migration.
In addition, land reclamation and pollution degrade crucial
wetlands and other habitats for many migratory bird species.
The loss and fragmentation of these essential habitats are being
further compounded by the effects of climate change – rising global
temperatures, frequent storms and sea-level rise with threatening
tidal wave impact on coastal wetlands, which are important resting
areas for many migratory birds.
In this context, the message for this year’s World Migratory Bird
Day is a clear signal that birds are useful natural indicators for the
status and trends of environmental change.
They seem to be telling people what they see from the skies
during their annual migratory cycle – the degrading ecosystems because
of humans’ destructive activities.
They do not end there: they are also saying they are more
concerned with the human destructive activities because it affects
them too.
While human survival depends on transformations of natural areas
for their basic needs such as food and shelter, a sustainable use of
land is vital to reduce the impacts on the natural resources, such as
air, water, soil, nutrients, plants and animals.
“We therefore need to do more to reduce the growing number of our
activities that tend to degrade the natural sites required by birds in
their migratory cycle,” the statement said.
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