Dear Beloved Ambassadors, Members, and Visitors:

Every year, the second Saturday in May and October is World Migratory Day. This day has been celebrated by UNEP since 2006, with efforts to raise public awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to protect them.

Migratory birds play a more important role in our environment than we may think, for they are an integral part of our ecosystems and play a huge role in sustainable development. Migratory birds not only consume billions of insects and help disperse crop seeds, but can also stimulate primary productivity while seeking food in places such as wetlands. But the number of migratory birds had been decreasing due to environmental pollution such as hunting and habitat destruction.

This year’s WMBD theme is “Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution!”

Most of you will already be aware that plastic pollution is a serious issue as of right now. It takes up to 20-500 years to decompose, and even if it does, 8 million tons of plastic waste is estimated to enter our ocean each year. Which are then broken down into small particles of water, sunlight, and wind where in most cases, it leads to dangerous situations such as ingestion and entanglement for the birds.

You may have seen photos of dead birds full of plastic, or trapped by plastic rings or nets. Plastic materials such as straws, bottles, and plastic bags may be easily mistaken for prey, due to their size, shape, and smell. Once it gets into the birds stomach, this consumption will lead to chronic feeling of hunger as it gives off the feeling of having a full stomach without zero nutritional value for the poor birds, not to mention the toxicity of chemicals used in plastics.

In this regard, in order to celebrate 2019 WMBD, we will ask our Tunza Eco-generation members to do one of three actions to combat plastic pollution mentioned below and write about it in Our Actions -> World Report.

- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Reduce or limit your consumption of plastic materials and replace them with eco-friendly alternatives.

- Take Action: Set up clean-up activities in your area, along beaches or rivers. You can register your activity at http://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/ or join other activities listed on this site.

- Spread the Word: Write about the importance of migratory birds and why we should celebrate the WMBD.

We will select the best reports and feature them on our ‘2019 WMBD Special Newsletter,’ which will be sent to all our TUNZA Eco-generation members!

Submission Deadline is October 31st 2019.

Don’t miss this opportunity to share your reports to other Eco-Gen members around the world and become our guest editor!

We look forward to all your participation! 😊

Best Regards,

Eco-Generations Team