New Delhi, Feb. 16 (IANS): India is set to host the UN biodiversity summit that will bring together more than 1,200 delegates from over 110 countries to deliberate on the alarming decline of migratory species in Gandhinagar in Gujarat from Monday.
The agenda of the talks include new proposals to mitigate effects of infrastructure on migratory mammals and joining the Gobi bear, the only bear living in the desert, the Persian leopard and the urial, a wild sheep, in the Central Asian mammal species for their protection.
Besides, Indian species like the Asian elephant, the great Indian bustard and the Ganges river dolphin are likely to get more priority in biodiversity conservation.
Roads, railway tracks and fences can create barriers to the movement of animals, many of which are hit and killed by vehicles or trains when attempting to cross, while others get entangled in barbed wire fences and die.
Barriers disrupt habitat connectivity and can lead to genetic isolation, driving populations to local extinction.
Roads, railway lines, and settlements cutting through habitats can also increase disturbance to wildlife, pollute their feeding areas, and ease access for poachers.
Delegates at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS COP13) will consider the need for guidance and implementation tools to mitigate the impacts of linear infrastructure on migratory species.
CMS is the only United Nations treaty that addresses migratory species and their habitats.
“Migratory species connect the planet and together we welcome them home” will be the theme of the UN wildlife conference dedicated to migratory species. It will conclude on February 22.
