5.3 — Concluding remarks

Given the wide ranges of most migratory species, the creation of "protected areas" is not sufficient and will not provide the necessary resilience for a long-term maintenance of viable populations. Many migrants are still numerous and not red-listed. They have adapted to agroscapes and managed to co-exist with humans, but will probably not be able to cope with further intensification and the increased "ecological footprints", in particular of industrialised nations. Therefore, it is not enough and might be even counterproductive to concentrate conservation efforts at certain "biodiversity hotspots", mostly in the tropics. Industrialised nations harbour a considerable portion of migrant biodiversity. But in spite of overdevelopment, they still rely on formulas of "economic growth", which inevitably lead to the further destruction of wetlands, coastal environments, forests and river systems, all of which are of extreme importance for migratory species. Industrialised nations should take a lead in demonstrating that sustainable co-existence of man and animals is possible by developing or re-developing ecologically sound agricultural practices, and minimise ecological footprints of their citizens.

This document should be quoted as part of the publication "Riede, K. (2001): The Global Register of Migratory Species ­ Database, GIS Maps and Threat Analysis. Münster (Landwirtschaftsverlag), 400 pp." + CD

 by Klaus Riede