Accra, May 10, GNA - Available statistics from Birdlife International said 1,227 bird species, constituting 12.4 per cent of the 9,865 different bird species in the world are under threat of extinction. The statement, signed by Nana Kofi Adu-Nsiah, Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, said out of the figure, 192 species were considered to be critically endangered.

The division is therefore using this year's World Migratory Bird Day, which fell on Saturday May 8 and Sunday, May 9, to appeal to Ghanaians to help save birds in general and migratory birds in particular from the threat of extinction.

"During the two days, the world will raise awareness on the importance of the conservation of migratory birds considered critically endangered and their habitats in crises," the statement said. This year's theme for World Migratory Bird Day is: "Save migratory birds in crisis - every species counts!" and is closely linked to the United Nation's International Year of Biodiversity, 2010. The statement said by focusing on migratory birds in crisis, the World Migratory Bird Day 2010 was highlighting the role of birds as indicators to the negative effects the current way of life of humans was having on the planet and its biodiversity.

It said migratory birds constituted 19 per cent of all known bird in the world, and out the 19 per cent, 11 per cent are considered threatened or near threatened and 31 per cent are considered to be critically endangered. The statement noted that migratory birds were vulnerable to environmental change, saying they needed biologically important natural habitats as stop-over sites along their flyways but those sites are fast being lost to human activities such as agriculture, illegal hunting, logging, trapping, unregulated urbanisation, improper infrastructural and industrial development and pollution. "The loss and fragmentation of these essential habitats for migratory birds is being further compounded by the effects of climate change and its side effects," it said.

It noted that the threat of extinction facing individual bird species was a reflection of the larger extinction crisis threatening other species and the natural diversity that underpinned all life on earth. The statement called for sanity in development activities in order to preserve the natural sites required by birds and biodiversity. It called on policy-makers, government planning and regulatory institutions, corporate and private individuals, non-governmental organisations, traditional authorities and all Ghanaians to pay attention to the signals from the birds.

"Without immediate conservation action, proper regulatory controls and care for our environment, there is a risk that the state of our biodiversity will continue to get worse and as a result impact negatively on our natural resources, economy and well-being as a whole," the statement said. 10 May 10