NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 11 – Forty-five percent of migratory bird species are declining, with one in nine species now threatened with extinction, according to a new report by BirdLife International.
The report was released on Friday during the Global Flyways Summit in Nairobi, where governments, conservation groups, scientists and financial institutions signed the Nairobi Flyways Declaration committing to protect migratory bird routes across countries.
BirdLife said seven migratory bird species have been confirmed or suspected to have become extinct over the past 150 years.
The Slender-billed Curlew was declared extinct in 2025 after it was last recorded in Morocco in February 1995.
BirdLife said this was the first recorded global bird extinction in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries.
Seabirds and shorebirds are among the most threatened groups, while species that depend on marine areas, forests and coastal wetlands are also experiencing significant declines.
BirdLife said the main causes of the decline include invasive species, expansion and intensification of agriculture, climate change and unsustainable hunting and trapping.
Dr Stuart Butchart, Chief Scientist at BirdLife International, said the decline in migratory birds shows the growing pressure on natural ecosystems.
“Migratory birds are sentinels, and their declines reveal growing pressure on the natural systems that sustain us. But the science is equally clear: conservation works,” he said.
Butchart said coordinated action along entire migration routes can help prevent extinctions and restore bird populations.
The summit also saw commitments by three multilateral development banks to mobilise more than $6 billion for conservation projects along major bird migration routes.
The Asian Development Bank is mobilising $3 billion over the next decade to protect at least 50 wetlands along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean is mobilising between $3 billion and $5 billion through 2050 to protect more than 30 landscapes and seascapes across 35 countries.
The World Bank and BirdLife International are also mobilising several billion dollars for conservation along the African-Eurasian Flyway, which is used by more than two billion migratory birds.
In June 2026, the Global Environment Facility approved a $8.97 million grant programme for conservation and restoration across nine million hectares of wetlands.
The programme will also provide $107 million in co-financing and is expected to benefit about 330,000 people.
Nature Kenya Executive Director Paul Matiku said African countries play an important role in protecting migratory birds because many species depend on African wetlands, grasslands and forests.
“The birds that breed in Europe, Asia and the Arctic depend on our wetlands, grasslands and forests,” Matiku said.
BirdLife International CEO Martin Harper said governments, businesses and civil society must work together to reverse the decline.
“We need everyone to step up and play their part. That means governments, business and civil society,” he said.
The Nairobi Flyways Declaration calls for countries to work together to protect habitats used by migratory birds as they move between breeding and non-breeding areas.
BirdLife said protecting individual sites is not enough because migratory birds depend on a network of habitats across several countries throughout their annual migration.
