They connect habitats, transport food, and fertilize plants — around 1,189 wild animals, including whales, migratory birds, and sharks, are among migratory species. One in four of these species is endangered. Forty species are now to be afforded stronger protection. This was decided by the member states of the 15th Conference of the Parties COP15 to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, which ended on Sunday in Campo Grande, Brazil. Among the newly or more strongly protected species are, among others, the hammerhead shark, the striped hyena, the snowy owl, and the Pantanal resident ariranha, the largest otter in the world.
On the edge of the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical inland wetland, politicians and experts, representatives from international organizations and civil society from dozens of countries spent a week discussing the current status of the species, the influence of the climate crisis, ecological linkages, and the impacts of human activities.
A UN report published earlier in March shows: For almost half of the migratory species, populations have declined; one in four species is endangered. In the past two years, five percent more species have been lost than in the comparison period. The population of migratory freshwater fish has fallen by 81 percent, as the reported. The situation has improved only for sea turtles — possibly a success of protective measures.
The damage is caused in any case by humans. Either because they catch too many individuals of a species for their own use, or because they destroy their habitat through their fences, railway lines or other actions.
New Protected Areas in the Pantanal
The Pantanal itself, about 200,000 square kilometers in size, has repeatedly suffered devastating fires between 2020 and 2024, in which animals burned and their habitats were severely damaged. Because it is fed by rivers whose water levels are affected by lack of rainfall, it is particularly affected by the climate crisis. President Lula signed decrees during the conference to establish two new protected areas within the swamplands with a total area of 104,000 hectares.
A large part of the Pantanal, however, is privately owned. The Brazilian Ministry of the Environment advocates for a greater number of private protected areas to link the state protected zones. The civilian population should be more involved in protection through payments for environmental services and for the conservation of biodiversity overall. However, there were no details on implementation and funding.
Trend Reversal by 2030
By 2030, according to the Global Biodiversity Framework, the loss of biological diversity should be halted and the trend reversed. Colmán Ó Críodáin, WWF’s wildlife policy lead, warns: “The path toward these global targets will be assessed later this year, and current indicators suggest that countries are not on the right track. The WWF calls on all countries to accelerate their actions and to build on the progress made in Campo Grande.” As examples of the latter, Mariana Napolitano of WWF Brazil mentions “ecological connectivity at the center of decision-making, greater international cooperation, and the leadership of the marine species agenda.”
In addition to the agreements to list new species on the endangered species list, there were also accords on so-called bycatch and on sea turtles. A call for research is to yield new insights into migratory species. For the first time, representatives from 28 Indigenous peoples were present. Their traditional knowledge was officially recognized for the first time as essential to the protection of migratory species and the preservation of biodiversity.
“We must lead by example,” emphasized Environment Minister Marina Silva, citing Albardão National Park, more than a million hectares in size, in the south of the country, which had already been created in early March. There, among other species, the endangered little bottlenose dolphin, the smallest dolphin in the world, resides. Additional national parks and ecological corridors in cooperation with neighboring countries are under discussion.
