IITA celebrates World Migratory Bird Day
World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD)—an annual global awareness raising event which highlights the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats, was celebrated at IITA on 10 May.
The WMBD taught children—Africa’s future leaders and scientists, how to conserve nature.
With the theme “Their Future is Our Future, a healthy planet for migratory birds and people”, WMBD focused on “Sustainable Development for Wildlife and People”. The event highlighted the interdependence of people and nature, and more especially people and migratory birds, which in many cases compete for the same limited resources. The aim was to raise global awareness of the need for a sustainable management of our natural resources and to demonstrate that bird conservation is crucial for the future of humankind. This annual event targets school children in particular as they are the future scientists. It was commemorated by four schools in Oyo state: Ibadan International School, Bethel American International School, Esther Foundation School and Ansar-Ud-Deen high school.
Migration is a death-defying journey and exposes birds to a wide range of threats, many of which are caused by human activities. The loss of wintering and stopover sites may have a serious impact on their chances of survival as they depend on a range of sites throughout their journey. Wale Awoyemi, IITA Forest Unit Project Supervisor, who is an ornithologist, explained the need to protect habitats for wintering palaearctic migrants and emphasized the importance of gardens to birds”. Posters showing different species of migratory birds were given to all schools that attended to facilitate further teaching and learning.
One attendee, Bimbola Adeyemi, a biology teacher from Ibadan International School, said, “I am grateful and honored to be in IITA because my students have seen the opportunity to practice and observe all they have been taught about birds.” On behalf of the students, Abikaima Kumar, also from Ibadan International School expressed, “ I thought it was going to be a speech presentation, I never knew It was going to be a practical aspect of learning, I feel more knowledgeable and I wish to have this magnificent and outstanding experience sometime again soon.
World Migratory Bird Day was initiated in 2006 by the secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). These institutions also provide the multilateral environmental agreements, legal framework, and coordinating instruments necessary for wildlife cooperation.
