Ecological connectivity transcends habitats and species

The official theme for the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties CoP15 is: “Connecting Nature to Sustain Life.” It is a perfect theme for a convention on migratory species, which rely upon safe passage across international borders, by land, sea or air, and access to habitat in multiple countries and continents.

In its update to the State of the World’s Migratory Species, released in advance of CMS CoP15, the CMS finds “that 49% of CMS-conserved migratory species populations are in decline (a 5% increase since 2024), and 24% of species are in danger of extinction – 2% more than in 2024”. It also finds that “positive developments include advances in identifying and safeguarding important habitats and migratory corridors, and some species’ recovery through coordinated action”.

While I could not get to the CoP in person, I was able to join the CoP15 Special Event on ‘Migratory Species: Role of Law and Judges’, organised by Chief Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin of Brazil and the CMS Secretariat. In preparing my recorded remarks for the event, I recalled my visit to Garamba National Park in the DRC as Special Envoy for African Parks in 2019 and how I was struck by the convergence between ecological ecosystems and the human-made ecosystems created to manage and protect them.

Focused treaties of the 1970s

When we look at the CMS, like the other treaties of the 1970s, they tend to target a very specific issue — be it migratory species (CMS), trade in species (CITES), sites of outstanding universal value (World Heritage Convention), or wetlands of international importance (Ramsar Convention). They are focussed treaties that are regulatory in nature. It is because of this focus that they are perhaps relatively successful treaties; provided they are connected.

The CMS, and all the other treaties I have referred to, and the ones that have come since, are not simply stand-alone instruments. Rather, they form part of a rich human-made ecosystem of global environmental conventions, policies and institutions.

And this ecosystem of environmental treaties is nestled in the wider ecosystem, including sustainable development, transnational crime, and human rights treaties.

Garamba

While I was in Garamba National Park, I saw the great work being done by the rangers and others in conserving biodiversity, mitigating climate change, stopping illegal wildlife trade, protecting wetlands and the outstanding universal values that underpin its World Heritage status — thereby supporting the implementation of multiple environmental treaties. 

This was evident from the recovery of chimpanzees, elephants, and giraffe and the safe haven provided for the four African species of pangolin, all found in Garamba.

But it went beyond the ecosystem. The park was generating decent local jobs, local students were being supported by a scholarship programme, there were mobile health clinics, and a permanent dialogue had been instituted with community chiefdoms and local authorities — all contributing towards delivering on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fulfilling human rights obligations under human rights treaties.

Here we saw the ecological ecosystem and the human-made ecosystems of a vast array of conventions, policies and institutions converging in a highly effective manner. 

But this success relied on another related human-made ecosystem: the ecosystem of administrators, community members, rangers, inspectors, prosecutors and judges at the country level that exists to implement the national laws that have been enacted to give effect to a myriad of treaty obligations. This does not mean a judge must train as a ranger or vice versa. They need to learn and understand their own craft. Rather, it recognises their interdependence.

This human-made ecosystem is fragile, and if one link is broken or not made — from the ranger to the prosecutor to the judge — then the entire system collapses. Given the subject of migratory species, this observation applies equally to a link being broken or not made in one country having spillover impacts on others across the species’ range.

And this is something that no one has better recognised than Chief Justice Benjamin. I recall attending conferences he organised in São Paulo where the participants were Indigenous Peoples, administrators, inspectors, rangers, police, prosecutors and judges — all interacting with one another in recognition of the fact that each one of them was connected to, and in one way or another reliant upon, the other to ensure treaty obligations and national laws were effectively implemented, irrespective of where they fitted in the ecosystem hierarchy.

Just as an ecological ecosystem is interdependent, so are the human ecosystems we make to manage and protect them, nationally and globally.

Be focused but stay connected

Drawing on all these experiences, it is clear to me that if we are to have healthy ecosystems, we must be focused but we must also be connected, recognising our interdependence.

It is important to retain our focus at CoP15 on migratory species, which is a strength of the CMS and other related treaties. However, we must do so while also recognising the role the CMS plays in the wider ecological ecosystem and its interdependence on the species, habitats and processes that are governed under other treaties.

The ecological ecosystem and the human-made ecosystem of conventions, policies and institutions — and the national legal, institutional and judicial ecosystem that has been developed to implement the CMS and other treaties — must be connected and must converge if we are to live on a safe, prosperous and healthy planet.

The CoP15 Special Event on ‘Migratory Species: Role of Law and Judges’ opened an important space for advancing this discussion and ensuring this convergence happens.

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