Illegal Bird Killings Continue Despite Prevention Pledges: Report

According to a new report from BirdLife International and EuroNatur, countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East are falling behind on their goals to reduce illegal bird killings by 2030.

Several countries have pledged to the Rome Strategic Plan 2020 – 2030, which set out to reduce illegal bird killings by 50% by 2030 compared to 2020 numbers. But according to The Killing 3.0 report from BirdLife International and EuroNatur, most countries (or 83%) that had committed to the plan are off track for meeting the reduction targets in time.

In total, only eight of the 46 countries that the report analyzed are on track to reduce illegal bird killings by at least 50% by the end of the decade. In nine countries, the situation has actually worsened since 2020.

“The illegal killing of birds is not just a crime, it’s a tragedy that continues to threaten birds across entire migratory routes,” Barend van Gemerden, Global Flyways Programme Coordinator at BirdLife International, said in a statement. “High levels of illegal killing in one country can wipe out conservation successes in another. We urgently need stronger, coordinated, cross-border action across the full flyway. Reaching the 2030 goal is a tough challenge, but not an impossible one.”

The report noted particular declines in populations of the European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur), Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) and European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) because of illegal killings.

The report cited a study that found 38% of deaths of tracked large migratory landbirds were linked to illegal killings, particularly through poisonings. Shooting was another major cause of illegal bird killings. In total, millions of birds per year around Europe and the Mediterranean region are killed illegally or removed from the wild, the report said.

While the report found that many countries’ efforts to reduce illegal bird killings are lagging, the authors shared hope that other countries can follow the actions of those nations that are on track to meet the goal.

For example, the report highlighted the British Eastern Sovereign Base Area (SBA) in Cyprus, which reduced illegal bird trappings by nearly 90% in 2023. In 2019 through 2021, Spain saw a 62% decrease in illegal bird killings compared to the period of 2008 through 2018. Spain also focused on stopping illegal wildlife poisonings, which helped improve the number of breeding pairs of Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti) from fewer than 40 in the 1970s to more than 530 pairs in the 2020s.

For countries that are not on track, the authors recommended actions such as developing national action plans, creating task forces with enough resources to make progress, setting and enforcing penalties, raising awareness, improving monitoring systems and cooperating internationally to work toward the shared goal.

“The number of birds killed illegally each year remains unacceptably high. For many migratory birds, it spells death before they can even reach their breeding grounds,” Justine Vansynghel, project manager at EuroNatur, said in a statement. “During the first half of the Rome Strategic Plan’s 10-year lifespan plenty of tools and guidance were developed to support national authorities. Now, it’s time to use them decisively to prevent further devastation.”