New Scientist - USA (2020-10-03)

3 October 2020 | New Scientist | 23

B

IRDS are vital. They are
landscape creators, habitat
regulators and pollinators,
as well as treasured wildlife.
But they are under threat
everywhere in the world and,
without protection, their future
could be very grim indeed.
Migratory birds are a case in
point. Their arrival and departure
dates have fascinated people for
millennia. What is evident is that
a typical migratory bird relies
on many different locations
throughout its annual cycle for
food, rest and breeding. This is
crucial for survival. Our activity
increasingly intersects with
migration paths, with impacts
ranging from landscape changes
to noise, light and air pollution.
More than 90 per cent of
migratory birds are inadequately
protected on their journeys
around the world. Most such
species have declined in past
decades, as a result of the likes of
habitat loss and hunting. These
birds and their habitats need
safeguarding and taking legal
action may be our best hope of
doing this. My colleagues at
the environmental law charity
ClientEarth and I are currently
involved in a case that shows why.
The Tagus estuary in Portugal is
one of the world’s most important
wetlands and more than 300,000
birds regularly winter there,
including waterfowl, ducks,
waders, flamingos and gulls.
While the Portuguese government
recognises this is the country’s
MImost important wetland, it also
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plans to build a new airport right

on top of it called Montijo airport.

While this will destroy part of

the wetland, the problem goes

beyond the footprint of the

airport. In order to reduce the

possibility of collisions between

flocks of birds and aircraft, you

have to scare birds away from a

much wider area. In 2003, the

UK government discounted the

possibility of an airport at Cliffe

in Kent partly for this reason.

We believe the project in

Portugal fails to comply with both

EU and national environmental

laws that safeguard protected sites

against development that risks

serious harm to ecological health.

So we are teaming up with SPEA,

a Portuguese bird protection

organisation, and other NGOs to

take the government to court. We

don’t take such action lightly and

only use it as a last resort when all

other elements of environmental

governance have failed.

We are bringing this case to

protect bird species from around

the world that depend on this

unique habitat for survival and to

raise the voices of all who stand

with us. We will argue that the

airport would not only impact

migratory birds that winter in the

estuary, but also those that use

the Tagus as a migratory stopover

before travelling beyond Portugal.

Additionally, increased air travel

will affect Portugal’s ability to

meet its obligations under the

Paris climate agreement, while

the wetlands themselves are

important carbon sinks and

vital to climate adaptation

and mitigation.

A victory would mean the

safeguarding of a vast, vulnerable

protected area and a future in

which the birds that use it can

thrill our descendants. The first

challenge has been submitted to

the courts and we currently await

the legal response to it from the

Portuguese authorities.

In the past decade, we have

helped to stop illegal logging of

the Bialowieza Forest in Poland,

taken the UK government to court

and won three times over illegal

levels of air pollution, won a

world-first climate risk case over

the construction of Europe’s last

coal-fired power station in Poland

and helped to launch a climate

justice case against the Australian

government for failing to mitigate

the effects of global warming in

the Torres Strait.

Failure to protect ecologically

important sites will cause

irreversible losses to wildlife

and damage to our climate.

Environmental thinking should

never be an afterthought. ❚

Fighting for the birds

Our feathered friends are struggling. Standing up for them in court

may be the best bet to avert an avian apocalypse, says James Thornton

James Thornton is CEO

of ClientEarth. He tweets

@JamesThorntonCE