State of the World’s Migratory Species Report : Key Findings

Context

The State of the World’s Migratory Species Report was launched by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an environmental treaty under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Key Global Findings

• Population Decline: Approximately 44% of CMS-listed species are undergoing population declines.
• Extinction Risk: One in five (22%) of CMS-listed species are threatened with extinction.
• The Fish Crisis: Migratory fish are the most affected group, with 97% of CMS-listed fish (including sharks and rays) facing extinction. Their populations have crashed by an average of 90% since the 1970s.
• Human Impact: The two greatest threats are overexploitation (intentional taking and incidental bycatch) and habitat loss due to human activity (agriculture, infrastructure, and fragmentation).
• Protection Gaps: While nearly 10,000 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are vital for these species, more than half of them lack any formal protected status.

Despite the grim overall trend, 14 species showed improvement, including the Saiga Antelope and the Humpback Whale, proving that coordinated international conservation efforts can reverse declines

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