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WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY
GLOBAL CAMPAIGN REPORT MAY 2018
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CONTENTS
I. 2018TransitionYear:UnifyingTwoCampaigns
II. EventsaroundtheWorld
III. SocialMediaHighlights
IV. MediaEcho
V. WhatNext?
Children celebrating WMBD 2018 in Senegal
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I. 2018TransitionYear:UnifyingTwoCampaignsThisyearWorldMigratoryBirdDayisunifyingtwoof theworld’s largest bird education andawareness-raising campaigns, InternationalMigratory Bird Day (IMBD) and WorldMigratoryBirdDay(WMBD),theformerledbyEnvironmentfortheAmericas(EFTA),andthelatterbytheAgreementontheConservationofAfrican-EurasianMigratoryWaterbirds(AEWA)and the Convention on Migratory Species(CMS).Withanewpartnershipformallyunitingtheir efforts, the three organizations aim towork together to increase awareness of theplightofmigratorybirdsaroundtheworldandhighlighttheurgentneedfortheirconservation.From2018onwards,thenewjointcampaignisadoptingthesinglenameof“WorldMigratoryBirdDay”.
Underthetheme“UnifyingourVoicesforBirdConservation”,thecampaignistakingonanewglobaldimension,bringingtogethertheworld’smainflyways.Andforthefirsttime,withtwopeakcampaigndaysintheyear,onthesecondSaturdays inbothMayandOctober-12Mayand13October2018.
In unifying the two major bird conservationcampaigns worldwide and with them theplanet’s major flyways - theAfrican-Eurasian,the EastAsian-Australasian and theAmericasflyways - World Migratory Bird Day aims toreach out to a broader audience and amplifyits message for bird conservation. Thecampaign raises awareness about the needfor conservation of migratory birds and theirhabitats, about the threats they face, theirecologicalimportance,andabouttheneedforinternationalcooperationtoconservethem.
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II. EventsaroundtheWorld
With 602 events registered in 58 countriesthroughout the world for the global WMBDpeakdayinMay2018,WMBDclearlybenefitedfromthenewglobaldimensioninthefirsthalfof2018.
WMBDintheAmericas
EFTA has continued to coordinate events,programmes and activities in Canada, theUnited States, Mexico, Central and SouthAmerica, and the Caribbean at protectedareas, refuges,parks,museums,schools,zoos,andmore.Eventsandprogrammesarehostedannuallytoraiseawarenessonmigratorybirdsandtointroducethepublictothegeneraltopicofbirdconservation.
World Migratory Bird Day is made possibleby its sponsors. Their contributions enablethe development and distribution ofeducation materials, regular outreach to hostorganizations, and collaboration with newpartners. Their support has resulted in year-roundprogramming,ensuringthateverydayis
BirdDay!
In 2018, the Western Hemisphere hasseen widespread acknowledgement of andparticipation in World Migratory Bird Dayandthechosentheme,YearoftheBird.Morethan 100 organizations have acknowledgedinvolvement in the Year of the Bird and itscorrespondingconservationefforts.
As of June 2018, 602 World MigratoryBird Day events were registered on theworldmigratorybird.org EventsMap. Of thoseevents,452eventstookplace intheWesternHemisphere. The United States shows thehighest levelofparticipationwith279events,followedbyCanadawith136events.
Events included communal bird walks,educationalpresentations,festivals,artshows,craft stations, bird counts, photographycompetitions, workshops, fundraisers andmore. Below is an example of a successfulregisteredeventintheUnitedStates,completewithaflyercreatedwithatemplatecreatedbyEFTAanddownloadedfrommigratorybirdday.org.
World map of registered WMBD events in 2018
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WMBDalongtheAfrican-EurasianFlyway
AEWAis leadingonactivities inthecountriesalongtheAfrican-Eurasianflywayandthisyearagain,ithastakentheleadershipincoordinatingactivities.
With 133 events registered in the first sixmonthsof2018,thesuccessofWMBDalongtheflywayreliesonastrongrelationshipwithNGOsthatplayanessentialrelay-role.
BirdLife International has been an importantpartner,bothinEurope(Croatia,Serbia,Slovakia)
andAfrica(BurkinaFaso,Burundi,Côted’Ivoire,Djibouti,Guinea-Bissau,Mauritania,Morocco,Senegal,Tunisia).OtherNGOshaveorganizedmostoftheeventsoccurringinacountry,suchas La Ligue pour lesOiseaux (LPO) in France(LPOisoneofthemostimportantassociationsforbiodiversityconservationinFrance).
FlywayHighlight:
“Many voices, one song: children across Africa sing for migratory birds”
FortheWMBD2018inMay,thespotlightwas
LogosofpartnerorganisationsofWMBDintheAmericas.
Example of a WMBD event description
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Listen to them: https://www.you-tube.com/watch?-v=l-ayPw26lOQ
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onthestrongcommitmentofyouthingeneral,withaspecialacknowledgementforacreativeprojectledbyBirdLifeAfrica:IncelebrationofWorldMigratoryBirdDay2018,schoolchildrenfrom sevenAfrican countries have performedsongsthathonourthebirdsthatpassthroughtheircountry.Everysongisdifferent,buttheirmessageisthesame:wemustalljointogethertoprotectourmigratorybirds.
TheKalissayeOrnithologicalReserveinSenegalisdistinguishedbyitscommitmenttochildren.The protected area has launched its 48-hourtimeline to unify voices for migratory birds.Awareness-raisingsessionsandthedistributionof environmental films were offered on thereserve‘spremises. Inthefield,nearthebirds‘breeding sites, the children cleaned up thewaste andweregiven an introduction tobirdidentification.
Once again, ABN (Burundi / BirdLife) usedWMBD to celebrate migratory birds. Thisyear, celebrations took place in the RusiziNationalParkwhere the local population andjournalistswereintroducedtobirdobservationandidentification.ABN‘seffortstoraisepublicawarenessofbirdprotectionareoutstanding.
TheEastAsian-AustralasianFlyway
TheEastAsian-AustralasianFlywayPartnership(EAAFP), a long-term partner and supporterof WMBD, has again this year played a keyrole in coordinating activities along the EastAsian-Australasian Flyway, encouraging thecelebration ofWMBD in each country alongtheflywaythroughevents,messagesandmediatoraiseawarenessonthemigratorywaterbirdsandissuestheyface.
Every year, under the global theme, the
Organizer: Group photo of participants at the WMBD event in Burundi organized by BirdLife
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EAAFP Secretariat highlights several speciesexperiencing rapidpopulationdeclining in theEastAsian-AustralasianFlyway(EAAF).In2018,theseareprimarilyRedKnot andGreatKnot,butalsootherspeciessuchasGarganey,Black-tailed Godwit, and the Critically EndangeredSpoonbill Sandpiper, as well as Far EasternCurlewandBaer’sPochard.
Sixteen events occurred along the EastAsian– Australasian flyway. Almost half of themoccurredinIndonesia,whereseveneventswereregistered and involved students of differentuniversities (University Samudra/University ofSouth Sumatera/ University of Siyiah Kuala,etc.).InMongolia,botheventsinvolvedchildrenand were linked to schools (elementary andhighschool).
Most of the activitieswere educational,withlecturesgivenbydifferentspecialistsinschoolsand universities. Birdwatching was also verypopular,andsometimeshappenedinprotectedsitessuchastheMaiPoInnerDeepBayRamsarSite(closetoHong-Kong),andinAnlungPring(Cambodia).
Universities and NGOs specialized in nature
conservation (BIOTA, Pelatuk) were themain partners in Indonesia and Malaysia.Ornithological societies and schoolswere themain partners in Mongolia. A bird researchinstitute was involved in Japan, and abirdwatching society organized both eventsIn Hong Kong. BirdLife and the Ministry ofEnvironmentwereinvolvedinCambodia.
Highlights
Indonesia
Aheadof thepeakcelebrationday,on1May2018,UKMHIMPUSdistributed1,000stickersin thenearbyBandaAcehCity, Indonesiaandtaught the community about migratory birds,invitinglocalinhabitantstobecomeinvolvedintheirconservation.On5May,akindergarten-levelcolouringcompetitiontookplaceatPAUDBungong Seleupoek Unsyiah, Darussalam,Indonesiatoraiseawarenessofmigratorybirdspeciesamongstthechildren.
On 13 May, a seminar took place in theHall Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of SyiahKuala University, led by two experts in birdconservation,Drh.AgusNurza,M.SiandMrs.
Organizer: UKM HIMPUS (Himpunan Mahasiswa Pecinta Unggas)/IndonesiaNumber of Participants: 350 people
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Rubama.M. In parallel, a birdwatching tourtookplace inUleeLheuebeach,BandaAceh,Indonesia.
Bangladesh
InBangladeshWorldMigratoryBirdDay2018was celebrated in a colourful way. The mainevent was conducted in Shunamgonj. On 10May a colourful rally was organized by theNatureConservationSocietywith thehelpoflocalForestDivision followedbya seminaratShaheedAbulHossainAuditorium,Shunamgong.Aboutone thousandpeople tookpart in thatrally - mostof themwereschoolandcollegechildrenandhaorcommunitypeople(haorisawetlandecosysteminthenorth-easternpartofBangladesh).RepresentativesfromtheDistrictAdministration, Police Department, NGOs,collegesandschools,Co-managementCouncil,Local Government, the Forest Department,the Fisheries Department, the EnvironmentDepartment and university teachers werealso present as the resource persons of thatprogrammes.Threepresentationsonmigratorybirds and the biodiversity of wetlands were
presented at the seminar. At the end of theseminar, a short dramawas presented by theNatureConservation&StudyClubofJagannathUniversityontheimportanceofmigratorybirdsand wetlands. The aim of this programme atthe migratory birds’ habitat site was to raiseawareness and to encourage the involvementofthenextgenerationofthelocalcommunitytowards conservation of migratory birds andtheirhabitat.
Cambodia
WMBDwascelebratedon9and10May2018by the Department of Freshwater WetlandConservation of General Directorate ofAdministration for Nature Conservation andProtection, Ministry of Environment togetherwith Environmental Department of KampotProvince. The partners who are working onnatural resources and wetlands conservationand management, organized an awareness-raisingandeducationalevent„WorldMigratoryBird Day 2018“ at Anlung Pring ProtectedLandscapewhich aflockof SarusCranes andother shorebirds suchasBlack-tailedGodwits
Organizer: Nature Conservation Society/BangladeshParticipants: Nearly 1,200. Mainly school and college students and members of the local community
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use as a feeding ground during their non-breeding period. This awareness event aimedat encouraging the public to participate inprotecting the breeding and non-breedinggroundsofmigratorybirds.
Many awareness-raising materials weredesigned and produced including booksand banners. In addition, T-shirts were alsodesignedandprintedforstudentsandrelated
NGOs showing themessageofWMBD2018andthethemeof„UnifyingourVoicesforBirdConservation“. Leaflets about the impact ofagriculturechemicalfertilizerandpesticideonpeople,wildlifeandwetlandswereproducedtobedistributedtovillagersforawarenessoftheirusageofsuchsubstances.Theeducationalaudioproduction was recorded as an awareness-raising tool to play during the parade. About300peopleparticipatedintheevent.
Photo on top: Organizer: University Students learned about wetland ecology and birds identification/Cambodia © DoFWC, MOE/Birdlife/WWT/NatureLifePhoto below: Primary School Student answered the question about migratory birds/Cambodia © DoFWC, MOE/Birdlife/WWT/NatureLife
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Photo on top: Organizer: University Students learned about wetland ecology and birds identification/Cambodia © DoFWC, MOE/Birdlife/WWT/NatureLifePhoto below: Primary School Student answered the question about migratory birds. © DoFWC, MOE/Birdlife/WWT/NatureLife
On 9 May 2018, participants and universitystudents traveled to Anlung Pring ProtectedLandscape to learn about site conservation,ecotourism and bird identification. Sitemanagers, partner NGOs and heads ofcommunity-based ecotourism operationsbriefly introduced site management,ecotourism and Sarus Crane conservation atthesite.Withguidancefromconservationists,university students walked to the wetlandstationandlearnedaboutwetlandecologyanduse of telescopes and binoculars for birding.In addition, students also participated in a
challengetofindbirdswhichwasconductedinthewetlandstationwherestudentswereabletospotbirdsthroughtelescopesandrecordthenameofeachspeciestheyfoundinthebirdlog.Thewinnerwhowasabletospotmostspecieswaspresentedwitharewardafterfinishingthechallenge.
On10May,aneventtookplaceattheThmorBerkSecondarySchoollocatednearbyAnlungPringProtected Landscaped with 450 participants,including pupils, university students, localauthorities, villagers and conservation NGOs.
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III. SocialMediaHighlights
WMBDisavailableonthefollowingchannels:
It was presided over by H.E Chea Sam Ang,Director General of General Directorate ofAdministration for Nature Conservation andProtection,MinistryofEnvironmentandtherewere four speakers coming from differentinstitutionsbutwhoworktogethertoconservewetlandsandmigratorybirds.Thekeymessagedeliveredbythespeakersfocusedon„Togetherto Conserve Migratory Birds“. The activitiesfollowing the event included a Question andAnswer session for students, a bird drawingcompetition, poem recitation, bird watching,andthedistributionofawarenessmaterials.
Theevent also involvedan awarenessparadeinandaroundthevillagestodistributeleafletsabouttheimpactofusingchemicalagriculturalfertilizerandpesticideonhumans,wildlifeand
wetlands.Participantsgotontractorsandsomeofthemrodebicycleswithabirdsignsuchasa Sarus Crane and anotherwaterbird specieswith the education audio being played. Theparade started from Thmor Berk SecondarySchoolalongthevillageroads.Itwasnotonlyforraisingawarenessamongvillagersabouttheimpactofpesticidesthroughaudioandleafletsbut also drew the public‘s attention to SarusCraneandwetlandconservationattheAnlungPringProtectedLandscape.
The public event was also recorded anddisseminated through the Ministry ofEnvironmentandpartnerNGOs’socialmedia.
http://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/2018/statements-mark-world-migratory-bird-day-2018
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The campaign is being supported by keyrepresentatives from the political or scientificspheres who reiterated their support to thecampaign. Statements to mark the day weredelivered by a wide range of supporters,includingforinstancetheUNSecretary-GeneralandtheExecutiveDirectorofUNEnvironment,and also from variousMEAs and key expertsandotherdedicatedindividuals.
A social media pack, available in threelanguages, which comprises images and pre-preparedpoststhatcanbetailoredbytheusers,wasmadeavailabletoallpartnersandWMBDsupporters. This pack waswidely shared andcontributedtothesuccessoftheWMBDsocialmedia campaign that built upover theweeksandmonthsbeforethepeakdayinMay.
The socialmedia activity aroundWMBDwasveryimpressiveagainthisyear,withthehashtag#WorldMigratoryBirdDay receiving nearly13 million impressions and #WMBD2018receivingaroundanother4million.Someofthe
largeraccountswhichsupportedthecampaignincluded the UN, WWF, UN Environment,UNFCCC, CBD, Ramsar, Canada, NationalGeographic,Audubonandhundredsofothers.
Statistics
Duringtheperiod1–28May2018, therewasatotalof17,203socialmediaposts,ofwhich86per centwere onTwitter and13per centonFacebook.Thenumberof posts peakedat7,750onSaturday,12May, theactualdayofWMBD,with the momentum continuing intothe next day (3,690 posts). Interest declinedsignificantlyafterwards,butwithlessofa“dieoff”effectthanwithpressarticles.
Posts were predominantly in English (13,230or 77 per cent of all posts). Therewere alsoa number of posts in Spanish (16 per cent),followedbyArabicandFrench(buttoamuchlesser degree – 1.5 per cent and 1 per centrespectively).
ReachofWMBDHashtagsonTwitter:Graphicontop:#WMBD2018,graphicbelow:#World-MigratoryBirdDay
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ExamplesofSocialMediaPosts
Media Exposure: WMBD Social Media (Source: Meltwater)SocialMedia:17,203posts PeakonSaturday,12May
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IV. MediaEcho
Amediaadvisoryhadbeen releasedaheadofthepeakdayand twopress releases (aglobalgeneral press release and one specifically onthe issueof leadpoisoning) inEnglish,Frenchand Spanish were made available on theWMBDwebsiteandsenttoalargenumberofjournalistsandothermultiplicators.
To support the dedicated press release onthe topic of lead poisoning,AEWA publishedanOp-Ed by its Executive Secretary, JacquesTrouvilliez,whichwaspublishedinseveralnewsoutlets.
The UN News Centre and UN Environmentand UNESCO WHC and other partners alsofeaturedtheirownstoriesontheirwebsitestomarktheday.
UNRadioInterview:
On Friday, 11 May, CMS Scientific Advisor,MarcoBarbieri,was interviewedbyUNRadio(Frenchlanguagechannel)–UNRadioprovidesitsmaterialtostationsaroundtheworldandisparticularlyusedbystationsinAfrica.
UNWebVideo:
UNMultimedia/TVpublishedashortvideoclipusingfootageforWMBDfromtheCornellLabofOrnithology.ThevideowasheavilypromotedviathemainUNsocialmediachannelsonboth11and12May:
http://webtv.un.org/watch/may-12-world-migratory-bird-day/5783935479001/
Potential Reach (Source: Meltwater)Note:Thepotentialreachofanarticleisestimatedbasedonthenumberofvisitorstothespecificsource(i.e.notspecificallythatarticle).
Media Coverage: WMBD News Article (Source: Meltwater)Total:1021articles PeakonFriday,11May
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Locations
Duringtheperiod1–28May2018, therewasa total of 1,071 news articles published thatincluded the keyword “Word Migratory BirdDay” [1] in 25 different languages. The peakwasonFriday,11May(thelastweekdaybeforeWMBD), with 321 articles. There was somepressinterestbeginninginearlyMay,butitonlysignificantlypickedupon9May(111articles);pressinterestdiedoffby17May.Thepotentialreach(intermsofvisitors)ofthepressarticlessteadily ascends from 8 May (25.83 million)until12May(71.73million).
Press articles were overwhelminglyconcentrated in the U.S., with 405 articles(40per centof all articles), followedbySpain(9percent),Turkey(8percent),Mexico(7percent) and India (6 per cent). Accordingly, thedominant languagewas English (55 per cent),followedbySpanish(18percent),Turkish(8percent)andArabic(4percent).
[1] This does not necessarily mean that thearticlewasaboutWMBD,onlythatitmentionedWMBD.
Locations - Press/ Meltwater Report from 1-17 May 2018 (Source: Meltwater)Note:Thebargraphshowsthetop 10 only(accountingfor827outof1021results).
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V. Whatnext?The next WMBD peak celebration will beon 13 October 2018. But events keep beingorganizedandregisteredaroundtheworld,bytheday,followingthejourneyandtherhythmofmigratorybirds.
In themeanwhile, theWMBD organizers areworking on enhancing the campaign, making
new tools available and creating informationmaterial tobest support the activities aroundtheworld.WhiletryingtosolicitnewsponsorsandincreasefundraisingeffortstomakeWMBDamoresustainableandlong-lastingcampaign.AEWA, CMS and EFTA are also working ondeveloping the partnership to integrate andstrengthenWMBDinotherkeyflywaysandtowinadditionalpartnersintheglobalcelebrationandconservationofmigratorybirds.
In case you have any questions or comments on WMBD, please contact:
Florian Keil CoordinatoroftheJointCommunicationsTeamattheUNEP/CMSandUNEP/AEWASecretariats Tel:+49(0)2288152451 Email:[email protected];[email protected]
Susan Bonfield ExecutiveDirectorEnvironmentfortheAmericas Tel:+1(303)499-1950 Email:[email protected]
www.worldmigratorybirdday.org
UNEP/CMS SecretariatUN CampusPlatz der Vereinten Nationen 153113 BonnGermanyTel.: +49 (0) 228 815 2401/02Fax: +49 (0) 228 815 [email protected]
UNEP/AEWA SecretariatUN CampusPlatz der Vereinten Nationen 153113 BonnGermanyTel.: +49 (0) 228 815 2413Fax: +49 (0) 228 815 [email protected]
