State of the World’s Birds is BirdLife International’s flagship science publication, using birds to assess the condition of our ecosystems as a whole. Five years in the making, this latest analysis of the scientific literature pinpoints the major trends and changes in bird populations, exploring the causes and identifying conservation solutions.
Birds are one of the best known and most highly valued elements of the natural world, comprising more than eleven thousand different species, an extraordinary variety, ranging from hummingbirds to ostriches, from penguins to eagles. Each species is unique, in its appearance, in its habits and in where it is found. Some occur in huge numbers and others are represented by only a handful of remaining individuals; some are relatively sedentary, with individuals spending their entire lives in an area of a few hectares, while others undertake extraordinary annual migrations, covering literally half the world.
Author(s): BirdLife International (2018)
Edition: 2018
Publisher: BirdLife International
Year: 2018
Language: English
Commentary: BirdLife International (2018) State of the world’s birds: taking the pulse of the planet. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.
City: Cambridge
Tags: Birds, Avian Fauna, Biodiversity, Conservation, wetlands, forests, Migration
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 04
FOREWORD 05
INTRODUCTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRDS 06
BIRDS: NATURE AT ITS MOST ENTHRALLING 08
BIRDS UNITE PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD FOR CONSERVATION 10
UNDERSTANDING THE BIODIVERSITY CRISIS THROUGH BIRDS 12
THE SCIENCE THAT UNDERPINS GLOBAL CONSERVATION: THE IUCN RED LIST 14
THE SCIENCE THAT UNDERPINS GLOBAL CONSERVATION: IMPORTANT BIRD AND BIODIVERSITY AREAS 16
STATE: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF BIRDS 18
GLOBALLY BIRDS CONTINUE TO DECLINE AND GO EXTINCT 20
THE EXTINCTION CRISIS DEEPENS 22
SOME BIRD SPECIES AND GROUPS ARE DECLINING FAST 24
ESSENTIAL ECOSYSTEMS ARE IN PERIL26PRESSURE: WHY BIRDS ARE DECLINING 28
HUMAN ACTIONS ARE DRIVING THE BIODIVERSITY CRISIS 30
UNSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES 32
DEFORESTATION AND UNSUSTAINABLE LOGGING 34
THE CATASTROPHIC IMPACT OF INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES 36
OVEREXPLOITATION 38
UNSUSTAINABLE AND POORLY PLANNED INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT 40
SEABIRDS ARE IN SERIOUS DANGER FROM FISHERIES BY CATCH 42
CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY HAVING NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON NATURE 44
ULTIMATELY, HUMAN OVERCONSUMPTION LIES BEHIND THE GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY CRISIS 46
RESPONSE: THE ACTIONS NEEDED TO CONSERVE BIRDS AND BIODIVERSITY 48
DESPITE THE SCALE OF THE CHALLENGE, CONSERVATION IS WORKING 50
PROTECTING THE MOST IMPORTANT SITES FOR BIRDS AND WIDER BIODIVERSITY 52
HABITAT RESTORATION IS ESSENTIAL 54
ERADICATION AND CONTROL OF INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES 56
TARGETED SPECIES RECOVERY 58
CAPTIVE BREEDING AND REINTRODUCTION 60
CURBING THE OVEREXPLOITATION OF BIRDS 62
EDUCATION AND AWARENESS RAISING 64
ECONOMIC AND LIVELIHOODS INCENTIVES 66
THE IMPORTANCE OF INFLUENCING POLICY AND LEGISLATION 68
CAMPAIGNING 70
EVIDENCE-BASED CONSERVATION IS CRUCIAL 72
TURNING A CORNER - WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW 74
DELIVERING BIRDLIFE’S BIODIVERSITY KNOWLEDGE TO IMPROVE DECISIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 76
