UN body grants international protection to 40 new migratory species

With the snowy owl — famously associated with the Harry Potter saga — now under new international safeguards, the United Nations has expanded protection for 40 additional migratory species in a move conservationists hope will slow mounting wildlife losses.

The decision was finalized at the close of the COP15 summit on migratory species in Campo Verde, Brazil, where delegates from 132 countries and the European Union gathered for talks.

The conference ranks among the most significant global forums devoted to wildlife conservation.

Joining the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) on the newly protected list are the Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica), a long-billed shorebird facing the threat of extinction, and the great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran).

Countries that are party to the CMS are legally required to protect species listed as being at risk of extinction, conserve and restore the habitats they depend on, remove barriers to migration and work with other range states.

A Giant Otter feeding on a fish in Ecuador’s Amazon.

Campo Verde lies in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands, a biodiversity-rich region in the southern Amazon.

A report issued before the summit found that nearly half, or 49%, of all species recorded by the CMS are showing population declines, while almost one in four now face the threat of extinction worldwide.

Another major UN assessment, released on Tuesday as the summit began, warned that migratory freshwater fish populations — vital to river ecosystems and to the livelihoods of millions — are in steep decline and edging toward collapse.

From the Amazon to the Danube, habitat destruction, overfishing and water pollution are putting at risk the survival of hundreds of species whose vast journeys along the world’s great rivers often pass largely unnoticed.