World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD)

 

World Migratory Bird Day

World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is a biannual global awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. Every year, on the second Saturday in May and October, dedicated people and organizations around the world celebrate World Migratory Bird Day by arranging activities such as bird festivals, education programmes, exhibitions and bird-watching excursions. Event organizers are encouraged to register their events at the WMBD website. In this way, individual events can be shared with others around the world and help inspire other people and organizations to get involved.

 

History of World Migratory Bird Day

World Migratory Bird Day was initiated in 2006 by the Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). Since then, WMBD has been celebrated annually and has been growing in popularity with more countries, organizations and people joining the campaign every year.

On 26 October 2017 in the margins of the CMS COP12 in Manila, Environment for the Americas (EFTA), CMS and AEWA announced an innovative partnership uniting two of the world’s largest bird education campaigns – International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) and WMBD. From 2018 onwards, the new joint campaign adopted the single name of "World Migratory Bird Day" and is celebrated twice a year, on the second Saturday in May and in October, making it possible to organize events in countries around the world at peak times of bird migration.

For further information, please visit the website: www.worldmigratorybirdday.org

 

World Migratory Bird Day 2019

Every year, World Migratory Bird Day presents an annual theme to draw attention to the issues and threats affecting migratory birds and to inspire people and organizations around the world to take measures for their conservation. The theme of WMBD 2019 is “Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution!” − and puts the spotlight on the negative impact of plastic pollution on migratory birds and their habitats.

With an annual production of more than 300m tons, plastic is one of the most widely used materials in the world. Lightweight and designed to last, the discarded pieces are easily transported into ecosystems through the forces of nature causing serious threats to migratory species around the world.

Sadly, having wings does not help birds escape the threat of plastic. Birds with stomachs full of plastic entangled and smothered by plastic rings and nets are all too real consequences of the toll that plastic takes on wildlife. The number of seabirds dying from the effects of plastic every year is currently 1 million and growing. World Migratory Bird Day 2019 is a unique chance to unite efforts in addressing this rapidly growing environmental problem.

For more information on WMBD 2019, please visit: https://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/2019/plastic-pollution-migratory-birds


   

 

Last updated on 04 August 2020

Official Logo of the World Migratory Bird Day

Type: 
Annual
Duration: 
06 May 2006 to 14 Octobre 2023