May 08, Saturday, is going to be the World Migratory Bird Day of the year 2021. The main motive behind the celebration of this yearly event is to create awareness about the requirement and necessity for the protection of habitats of migratory birds.
The day also helps in drawing the attention of the general public and higher authorities to the threats faced by these birds and also the measured to be taken for their safeguarding. The event is marked by public events as well as educational programs, various exhibitions, and also through bird-watching expeditions.
World Migratory Bird Day History
In the year 2006, the United Nations established World Migratory Bird Day to be observed on the second weekend of May every single year. The event was created as an effort of the UN’s Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds in order to raise more awareness of the migratory links in the middle of the regions of all around the world.
The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, which is also known as the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) is an independent worldwide treaty developed under the sponsorships of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Convention on Migratory Species.
It was created to synchronize the efforts in order to protect bird species migrating in the middle of European and African nations, and its present scope expenses from the Arctic to South Africa, encircling the Canadian archipelago as well as the Middle East as well as Europe and Africa.
The agreement basically emphases on bird species that depend on wetlands for at least part of their lifespan as well as cross international borders in their migration outlines. It presently covers the total number of 254 species.
At present, the World Migratory Bird Day events have been observed in a total number of 118 countries. Every single year, the United Nations declares a uniting theme for official events.
World Migratory Bird Day 2021 Theme
This year in 2021, the theme for World Migratory Bird Day is ” Sing, Fly, Soar – Like a Bird!” Well, we all know that plastic pollution is a hazard to the aquatic ecosystem; which in other term is also an equal danger for many avian species.
Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director of UN Environment said, “One-third of global plastic production is non-recyclable and at least eight million tonnes of plastic flows unabated into our oceans and water bodies each year.” She then further added, “It is ending up in the stomachs of birds, fish, whales, and in our soil and water. The world is choking on plastic and so too are our birds on which so much life on earth depends.”
Also, Jacques Trouvilliez who is the Executive Secretary of the African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement said, “There are no easy solutions to the plastic problem. It will require the joint efforts of governments, industry, municipalities, manufacturers, and consumers to tackle the problem. However, as this year’s World Migratory Bird Day underlines – everybody on this planet can be part of the solution and take steps to reduce their use of single-use plastic. Tackling this problem globally will not only be beneficial for us but also benefit our planet’s wildlife, including millions of migratory birds.”
