The Americas Flyways Initiative to begin implementation in January 2025

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CALI, Colombia (October 30, 2024) — In the framework of COP16, Audubon, BirdLife, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) have presented the progress of the Americas Flyways Initiative (AFI) as part of their vision and commitment to protect, conserve, and restore nature and address biodiversity loss and the climate change crisis.

After two years of rigorous science-based design, AFI moves into its implementation phase in 2025 to protect and restore critical ecosystems through Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) and bird- and people-friendly infrastructure.

Inspired by the wondrous world of birds and their epic migratory journeys across the hemisphere that connect landscapes, cultures, and people, AFI’s science team has identified a portfolio of crucial sites to ensure the connectivity and conservation of at least 10% of the prioritized populations of migratory shorebirds and land birds in the Americas.

Birds are a great bio-indicator of the health of nature. They tell us the problem and the solution: where and how we need to act. If you protect birds, you protect life. For example, 85% of the important sites for bird conservation in Colombia coincide with key areas for water regulation and climate change mitigation.

Therefore, actions aimed at the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems and their biodiversity are an obligation and responsibility of all sectors, as they are the fundamental basis for our societies to continue to exist and prosper. Fortunately, much of the answer to the challenge of channeling funding in favor of biodiversity is to be found in nature itself.

Against this backdrop, at COP15 in Montreal, the National Audubon Society, BirdLife International and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) made a commitment and laid the foundations for a strategic, transformative, and visionary alliance that will mobilize, through a comprehensive financial mechanism, investment in favor of nature and the communities that depend on it.

The Americas Flyways Initiative (AFI) is a symbiosis for prosperity that combines cutting-edge applied science and agile financial mechanisms to sustainably manage more than 30 landscapes and seascapes through 2050, mobilizing between $3 trillion dollars and 5 trillion dollars.

AFI currently has five initial projects, also known as nest projects, whose name was inspired by the characteristics of these natural structures linked to shelter, development, and well-being.

Improvement of coastal climate resilience in the Rocuant Andalién Wetland in Chile;

Restoration of montane forest landscapes and aquatic ecosystems in the northwestern Andes in Ecuador;

Integration of bird-friendly practices in the transmission and distribution lines that reach the coast of Guayas, Ecuador;

Incorporation of bird-friendly architecture and design at CAF headquarters in Panama City;

Knowledge sharing on best practices at the Iona Fraser River Wastewater Treatment Plant on Iona Island, British Columbia.

To advise and guide project structurers in designing and implementing proposals that combine conservation and sustainable development, AFI also presented four guides, understood as practical and strategic tools.

Guide 1: High biodiversity and carbon-dense ecosystems.

Guide 2: Water security: drinking water, sanitation, and access to irrigation.

Guide 3: Coastal management.

Guide 4: Infrastructure.

AFI’s relevance centers on the premise that conservation without funding is talk. Without agile and sustainable financial resources, effective conservation, protection, and restoration of nature cannot be achieved. There is an economic gap between $598 billion and $824 billion per year to articulate actions to address the climate crisis and biodiversity loss.

One of the main objectives to be achieved at COP16 is to make progress on the details and mechanisms to be used to meet target 19 of the Global Biodiversity Framework: to achieve the annual mobilization of at least $200 billion by 2030. Of this amount, at least $30 billion is expected to be focused on developing countries, which are often most affected by the impacts of climate change and the detriment of wildlife and biodiversity loss.

As of this writing, eight governments have indicated they will provide $163 million for the Global Biodiversity Fund (GBFF) to implement the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework. While this is a step forward, it is still incipient given the magnitude of what is required and our context.

The protection and sustainable use of the services and resources we receive from nature is not only a responsibility of the naturalist or scientific community. More than half of the world's economy depends on the benefits provided by nature: clean water and air, fertile soils, food, medicines, and raw materials, among others. More than half of the world’s GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services. Consequently, this figure is linked to the risks and impacts of the destruction of nature.

Apppointments:

Elizabeth Gray, Audubon’s chief executive officer, highlighted the importance of the initiative. “We are working together to protect 30 landscapes and seascapes in this vast region. This is essential to promote nature-based solutions and sustainable development. The Americas is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, and we have much to do to address both the biodiversity and climate crises.“

Martin Harper, CEO of BirdLife International, thanked and recognized the teams from the three organizations for their hard work in getting to this point. “We are building something extraordinary to unite conservation efforts across the Americas. This initiative is already inspiring similar projects in other major flyways worldwide.“

Sergio Díaz Granados, CAF’s executive president, recalled the bank’s efforts to become the region’s green bank, including increasing its capital to address the climate emergency. “Biodiversity loss is one of our most urgent problems. Mitigating and adapting is not a choice but a responsibility we must fulfill. We have collaborated with institutions such as Audubon and BirdLife to close conservation gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean.“

Media Contacts: Santiago Aparicio, santiago.aparicio@audubon.org; Lucía Rodríguez, lucia.rodriguez@birdlife.org; Mauricio Velasquez, Senior Executive, CAF – mvelasquez@caf.com

About Audubon

The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Audubon works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, Audubon believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive.

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