World Migratory Bird Day 2015 will be celebrated on 9-10 May in over 80 countries with the theme "Energy - make it bird-friendly!" It will highlight the importance of deploying energy technologies in a way that minimizes impacts on migratory birds and their habitats.

More than 100 events will be held to mark the occasion, including bird festivals, education programmes, birdwatching trips, presentations and an international video competition, and a benefit opera concert to raise awareness and funds for migratory bird conservation.

Migratory birds - such as cranes, storks, shorebirds and eagles – travel hundreds and thousands of kilometres to find the best ecological conditions and habitats for feeding, breeding and raising their young. Migration is a perilous journey and involves a wide range of threats, often caused by human activities. Growing human population, rapid urbanization, pollution, climate change and unsustainable use of landscapes are causing the loss, fragmentation and degradation of the natural habitats upon which migratory birds depend. Developments in the energy sector are adding to these pressures, as millions of migratory birds are affected by the expansion of various means of generating and distributing energy.

Turning off non-essential lights in cities to help birds navigate their annual migration routes; placing power lines underground, or retro-fitting them to prevent fatal bird collisions and electrocutions are all examples of measures being taken to make the world's expanding use of energy safer for migratory birds. These measures should be complemented by effective national legislation, planning guidance and policies that ensure the protection of birds from adverse effects of energy developments.

"The global challenge is to ensure that the development and deployment of energy infrastructure, crucial to support human development, and of renewable energy technologies, central to the fight against climate change, do not come at the cost of placing already threatened species of migratory birds at greater risk of extinction," said Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

"It is clear that renewable energy is needed to fight climate change which affects the survival of all species. But the development of this new technology should not be detrimental to migratory birds and the planet’s biodiversity,” said Jacques Trouvilliez, Executive Secretary of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA).

“Solutions to address the challenge exist and CMS and AEWA have commissioned international guidelines which include practical measures to make both power lines and renewable energy safer for migratory animals, in particular for birds. Good planning to avoid placing wind farms on migration bottlenecks or making power cables more visible to prevent bird collisions are just a few examples" he added.

If not properly planned, the deployment of wind, bio-energy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean and solar energy technologies can have negative impacts on migratory birds, because such installations can form barriers to migration and exacerbate habitat loss and degradation.

Launched in Kenya in 2006, World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated each year, on the second weekend of May by a growing number of dedicated people and organizations around the world. The annual awareness raising campaign is organized by CMS and AEWA - two intergovernmental wildlife treaties administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The 2015 campaign has been made possible thanks to a voluntary contribution of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) to AEWA. The global campaign is supported by a number of international partners, including: BirdLife International, Wetlands International, the Secretariat of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) and UNEP.

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea) migrates annually between breeding sites in Russia’s Far East and wintering sites in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand. The journey is 8,000km long and passes through six or more countries. In 2012, the species was listed as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species after a dramatic population decline from more than 2,000 breeding pairs in the 1970s to an estimated 120-200 pairs in 2010. Declines are attributed to trapping at wintering sites but the reclamation of inter-tidal feeding sites along the migration route may also contribute.