Common birds are in decline across the world, providing evidence of a rapid deterioration in the global environment that is affecting all life o­n earth – including human life. All the world’s governments have committed themselves to slowing or halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. But reluctance to commit what are often trivial sums in terms of national budgets means that this target is almost certain to be missed. These are some of the stark messages from State of the World’s Birds, a new publication and website (birdlife.org/sowb) launched on 22 September at BirdLife International’s World Conference in Buenos Aires… 

The report highlights worldwide losses among widespread and o­nce-familiar birds. A staggering 45% of common European birds are declining: the familiar European Turtle-dove Streptopelia turtur, for example,has lost 62% of its population in the last 25 years. o­n the other side of the globe, resident Australian wading birds have seen population losses of 81% in just quarter of a century… Twenty North American common birds have more than halved in number in the last four decades State of the Worlds Birds identifies many key global threats, including the intensification of industrial-scale agriculture and fishing, the spread of invasive species, logging and the replacement of natural forest with monocultural plantations.” The full press release is available here, and the State of the World’s Birds Web site is here

Source: website of the Ramsar Convention

Updated on 10/1/2008 12:59:50 PM.