The 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14) convened in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, under the theme of “Nature knows no borders.” As the first CMS COP since the COVID-19 pandemic, the first to be hosted in Central Asia, and the first major biodiversity conference since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in 2022, COP14 represented a historic crossroads for tackling the conservation of migratory species and their habitats across the globe, from the bottom of the sea to the upper reaches of the sky, and spanning every type of ecosystem in between.

Among the migratory animals covered by the Convention on Migratory Species, a total of 962 species are birds. The threats they face are manifold and include habitat loss, unsustainable and illegal taking, pollution, collisions with man-made structures, and climate change.

Among the topics to be discussed by governments at the CMS COP14 in Samarkand are several relating specifically to terrestrial species, along with cross-cutting issues crucial for the conservation of species listed under the Convention on Migratory Species. These topics include linear infrastructure development, the establishment of trans-frontier conservation areas, and measures to combat the illegal and unsustainable taking of species.

A new report published today in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution has found that Africa’s birds of prey may be facing an extinction crisis. According to the report by an international team of researchers, African savanna raptors such as the Rüppell's Vulture, the Steppe Eagle, and the iconic Secretarybird are showing evidence of widespread and significant population declines and a growing dependence on protected areas across the African continent.