Amy Fraenkel

On this World Wildlife Day, we honour the extraordinary value of medicinal and aromatic plants and the communities whose traditional knowledge safeguards them. The conservation of migratory species is deeply interlinked with the conservation of these plants: across continents, migratory animals pollinate blossoms, disperse seeds, and contribute to genetic diversity, which is essential for healthy plant populations.

Passerine birds— common perching birds, many of whose families are listed under Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) to benefit from international collaboration—play important roles in pollinating wild plants. The Eurasian blackcap, for example, is known to visit and pollinate species of figwort (Scrophularia), a plant traditionally used in parts of the Mediterranean for anti‑inflammatory remedies and for treating skin infections.

Across Africa, the straw‑coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum), already listed under CMS Appendix II, travels long distances each night and seasonally across borders. In doing so, it pollinates and disperses the seeds of many trees vital for people’s livelihoods and health—such as African teak (Milicia excelsa), waterberry (Syzygium cordatum), sycamore fig (Ficus sycomorus), and sausage tree (Kigelia). These trees provide traditional medicines, food, wood, and other essential resources. Safeguarding this bat species means protecting the forests and landscapes that support millions of people.

This year’s theme reminds us that sustainable harvesting, equitable benefit‑sharing, and respect for traditional knowledge are indispensable to securing the future of medicinal and aromatic plants—and the migratory species that sustain them.

The need for urgent action to conserve migratory animal species will be in focus at our upcoming UN wildlife conference taking place later this month in Brazil. Governments, scientists, conservationists, indigenous peoples and local communities, and other actors from around the world will gather at the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CMS (CMS COP15) in Campo Grande, Brazil (23–29 March 2026). The COP will address threats such as habitat loss and overexploitation, as well as the impacts of pollution and climate change, and strengthen actions on the conservation needs of migratory species that benefit both nature and the human communities who depend on it. 

Let us carry the spirit of World Wildlife Day into COP15 with renewed commitment to preserving migratory species, the plants that support our health and heritage, and the livelihoods intertwined with both.