An Omnibus Scrapbook of Nairobi: The Global Partnership Meeting and Global Flyways Summit 2026

An Omnibus Scrapbook of Nairobi: The Global Partnership Meeting and Global Flyways Summit 2026 Three days, three outcomes, 125 Partners and a song. A comprehensive sketch of the week the Partnership came to Africa. Ten days later we’ve taken down the banners at the Safari Park Hotel. Partners have flown home and are back at it. The photographers have sorted a week of pictures and videos. The conference tote bags, four publications heavy, have been unpacked in 120 countries. A 5 minute whirlwind in images of the week in Nairobi, 7-12 September 2026 Nairobi produced three things we can all take home. A report: State of the World’s Birds, in its sixth edition and the first devoted entirely to migratory birds. A declaration: the Nairobi Flyways Declaration, signed by more than 125 Partners, organisations and businesses and still counting as the digital signatures arrive. And a Flyways bond framework, announced on stage in the closing minutes by our partner in the Americas Flyways Initiative, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, (CAF), and signed with them, BirdLife International, and one of our American Partners, National Audubon. It offered one more high note as we wound down. It writes bird science into the first steps of how a development bank decides what it might finance across a hemisphere. Any one of these outcomes would have justified the week. Together they make for a singular Global Flyways Summit. But that’s probably not what anyone in the room remembers first. Let’s go back to the start. Karibuni For the second time in our 104 years, the Partnership gathered on African soil. Nature Kenya, our Partner, and the oldest environmental society on the continent, carried much of the week on their shoulders. Partners arrived from 120 countries. Some had not seen one another since Cambridge and our 100th birthday in 2022. Some for far longer. But like any family, they picked up mid-sentence, as though no time had passed. “Karibuni,” said Dr Paul Matiku, Executive Director of Nature Kenya, opening the Global Partnership Meeting on the Wednesday morning, and this Swahili word for welcome infused the rest of the week. The Partnership governs itself The Global Partnership Meeting is our own business: the quadrennial moment when the Partnership reconnects all together, reviews where it stands and decides where it is going. Over two days in the Jambo hall we did exactly that. A refreshed strategy to 2030 was presented by our Chief Executive, Martin Harper, and adopted by acclamation. The refreshed strategy outlines our collective ambition for the remainder of the decade. Acknowledging that we cannot do everything and that the external operating environment is very volatile, the strategy includes priorities for what Partners and Global Team want to do together-especially on flyways. This focus will then help us increase our impact so we have the biggest bang for our finite conservation buck. The accounts were examined. Those who will steer us through the next four years were elected. Dr Mike Rands, re-elected by acclamation as Chair of our Global Council, presided from that moment on. Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado, our Honorary President for twenty-two years, welcomed us. Hon. Rebecca Miano, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, opened the meeting for the host nation, and reminded the room that Kenya sits on the African-Eurasian Flyway, “a vital bridge for millions of migratory birds.” But with a humorous glint in her eye, she flagged that Kenya is well known as the cradle of humankind, where we all began, and she was pleased to welcome us back home from the far-flung parts of the planet. Then, at two o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, the hall went quiet for something no one has ever heard before. One flock, one chorus Nearly every one of our 125 Partners had sent a bird sound from home. A Grey Parrot from Ghana. A Rüppell’s Robin-Chat from Kenya. A Common Swift from Ukraine. A Rarotonga Starling from the Cook Islands. Two musicians, Tim Arinaitwe of Nairobi and Axel Wild of Italy, had woven more than a hundred countries’ worth of birdsong into a single compelling Afrobeat rhythm with the birds themselves as the instruments. It premiered in Jambo that afternoon. For the first time, the whole Partnership’s one voice is the birds we love. At our 100th birthday in 2022, Partners around the globe danced and sang to our newly composed Let’s Fly anthem. Our special BirdLife culture, from our Partners to our birds, sings out. We danced to the infectious rhythm of the Global Birdsong Partners have their say Sixty Seconds for Conservation followed — Partners stepping up randomly to the microphone, one minute each, no slides, sharing their passions, aspirations and even anxieties. The following three clips are but a small snapshot of the fabulous energy of the BirdLife Partners who stepped up to “testify!” Global Birdfair 2026 Then Tim Appleton MBE and Penny Robinson walked on stage with a cheque representing the proceeds of this year’s Global Birdfair, the lollapalooza of birding jamborees they run like a Swiss watch. One hundred and fifty thousand US dollars, for three Critically Endangered birds of São Tomé and Príncipe that exist nowhere else on Earth. Marquinha Martins, who leads our work there, accepted it. Global Birdfair and the rarest birds on Earth A Dinner for the Global Partnership That evening the Global Partnership Dinner did what it always does. It proceeded to honour the people who do the work. Conservation Achievement Awards went to Bird Conservation Nepal, the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia and Zydjon “Joni” Vorpsi of PPNEA in Albania. Partnership Awards were presented to to Nature Kenya and the Southern Cone Grasslands Alliance, comprising Aves Uruguay, Aves Argentinas, Guyra Paraguay and SAVE Brasil. Melanie Heath, Nick Prentice, Pedro Develey and Susan Packard Orr became Members of Honour. An award for a lifetime of service The President’s Award went to Pamela Isdell, who died last year, for a lifetime given to birds in Africa. Her husband Neville accepted it for her posthumously from Her Imperial Highness. Then he told the room how he intended to ensure her work and impact would be enduring – a US$10 million commitment from the Isdell Family Foundation to continue her work in Africa A Legacy in flight: the Pamela Isdell Endowment Fund for Africa After that moving recognition and celebration, things started to heat up when, at Her Imperial Highness’s invitation, the whole room stood and played rock, paper, scissors against her until six were left standing. A formidable opponent! There was also one award nobody in the room had heard of, because it had never before been given. The Nairobi Crane Award Thursday, and the working day Thursday was the day the Partnership talked in detail about the issues we confront together. Twenty conversations with consensus and debate across six rooms: site-based conservation, community and Indigenous leadership, the Hima for Peace, grasslands in the Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, artificial intelligence, the High Seas Treaty, mental health in conservation, the financing of forests. And much more. Dr Lesley Dickie drew the threads together, and Martin Harper, Dr Matiku and Dr Mike Rands closed the Partnership Meeting. Journeys: A Dinner to Celebrate the Flyways By evening the hall’s hues had moulted from oranges and browns to blues and greens. Journeys: A Dinner to Celebrate the Flyways opened to Burundi drummers and a toast from Dr Matiku. Then Elizabeth Mrema spoke. Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, Tanzanian, the first African woman to lead the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the person who carried the Kunming-Montreal framework over the line in 2022 — before that she ran the Convention on Migratory Species, so flyways are home ground. She told a room of Partners that the world’s targets for nature are only as good as the people prepared to meet them, and that she was looking at those people. Her participation was testament to the importance ascribed to the Partnership’s work by someone of great stature in the sector. Her Imperial Highness then drew a raffle with emcee Honey Kohan. Every shilling went to Nature Kenya from an array of prizes. Friday turns outward The Global Flyways Summit is the Partnership showing the world what it does together globally, and on Friday morning we did. Martin Harper set the scene: since the first Summit in Abu Dhabi in 2018, we have built flyway initiatives with three development banks, with a fourth on the way. Her Imperial Highness spoke of the science, and of why we cannot act on what we have not measured. Before turning to the evidence and the actions to take in response, a few minutes of something else: a snippet of Global Flyways, the film series we have made with Content With Purpose in 21 countries across all four land flyways. Cree elders from James Bay on the water in southern Brazil, looking for the birds that stopped arriving at home. Researchers on a Mongolian lakeshore fitting a tag lighter than a coin. A farmer in Kagera who stopped robbing crane nests. The full series will launch and is free to watch from the upcoming World Migratory Bird Day, 10 October. A fuller 25-minute trailer was screened three times a day during the week. Coming 10 October: Global Flyways, the film series The Global Flyways Series Trailer Four years of dedication, One incredible report Then, to inform the day’s proceedings, our Chief Scientist, Dr Stuart Butchart FRS, presented State of the World’s Birds, with a focus on migratory species. The conclusions are grim and yet point the way towards effective solutions and hope. Some of the key findings from the report “Migratory birds are sentinels, and their declines reveal growing pressure on the natural systems that sustain us. But the science is equally clear: conservation works, with co-ordinated action preventing extinctions and helping populations recover. The solutions exist: what is needed now is their implementation at flyway scale.” Dr STUART BUTCHART FRS State of the World’s Birds: A focus on migratory species and their flyways Keynotes followed from Dr Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, and Dr John Chumo, Conservation Secretary for the Government of Kenya. Dr Musonda Mumba’s full address Then we turned to mobilising the money. A panel on financing the flyways put Valerie Hickey of the World Bank, Alicia Montalvo of CAF, Yoko Watanabe of the Asian Development Bank and Ruth Davis OBE, the United Kingdom’s Special Representative for Nature, on one stage. Three multilateral banks and a G7 government bringing birds into bonds, as it were. Dr Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, with Martin Harper on the eve of the Summit. “If you want to save one bird — a godwit, a turtle-dove, a stork, a roller or a bee-eater — you’ve got to deal with the issues it faces across the whole flyway.” Martin HARPER, CEO, BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL At half past twelve the Nairobi Flyways Declaration was launched, and the signing began: Dr Paul Matiku of host Nature Kenya first, followed by the democratically elected Chairs of each of BirdLife’s six regions — Dr Tiwonge Mzumara-Gawa of WESM Malawi for Africa, Rodrigo Soria of Armonía Bolivia for the Americas, Dian Agista of Burung Indonesia for Asia, Kjetil Solbakken of BirdLife Norway for Europe and Central Asia, Assad Serhal of SPNL Lebanon for the Middle East and Nunia Thomas-Moko of NatureFiji-MareqetiViti for the Pacific. It carried on at the Communications Desk through lunch, Partner after Partner, and it has not stopped since. Partner after Partner. The signing continued through lunch and continues online. Flyways for the Future: The Nairobi Flyways Declaration The “doyenne” of the Summit – a portrait At the midday press conference that followed, Honey Kohan put Her Imperial Highness, Dr Matiku, Dr Butchart FRS and Martin Harper in front of the world’s cameras for half an hour. Afternoon sessions on power lines and renewables, on marine flyways, on the illegal killing of birds, on granting mechanisms and private capital. Then, at half past five, Dr Lesley Dickie took the stage to say what the week had added up to. We are all making a difference to the future of migratory species. Saving flyways is an incredible challenge, one of the toughest, it’s our ‘moonshot’. We are all ‘astronauts for Flyways’, so continue with us and we will make this happen. Dr Lesley Dickie, Executive Vice President for Conservation and the Regions “Before we close, I have one more thing“ A secret had been kept all week. With the Declaration signed and the room ready for dinner, Martin Harper asked for a few more minutes and introduced Alicia Montalvo. She announced that BirdLife International, the National Audubon Society and CAF — the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean — had completed the Flyways Nature Bond Framework: a scientific and environmental methodology for assessing projects across Latin America and the Caribbean, built on bird science, to guide how CAF assesses and selects projects for possible future financing. Where a site matters to migratory birds. What a nature-based solution has to deliver. What makes infrastructure bird-friendly. How risk is managed and results monitored. Bird science, written into the beginning of the process, before decisions are taken rather than after the damage is done. Then a table was carried on, and Martin sat down with Alicia and Aurelio Ramos of the National Audubon Society to sign a memorandum strengthening the three institutions’ collaboration under the Americas Flyways Initiative — to develop the Framework further and put it into practice, including advising CAF on which projects qualify. “Flyways are not just migration routes for birds — they connect critical sites, landscapes, biodiversity and the people who depend on them across the hemisphere. As part of BirdLife’s Global Flyways Program, the Americas Flyways Initiative brings BirdLife’s strong science and our network of national partners across the Americas to contribute to the Flyways Nature Bond Framework — mainstreaming migratory bird and biodiversity conservation more systematically within project selection and evaluation.” Martin Harper, Chief Executive, BirdLife International The Flyways Nature Bond Framework The resting site It fell to Honey Kohan, our Head of Communications in Brussels who guided us the whole week from the podium, to close the Summit. She had opened the Partnership Meeting on Wednesday by saying that nothing filled her with more inspiration than a room full of BirdLife Partners. By Friday evening she had watched that room for three days. Sharing her emotions and respect for Partner and community courage, she moved the room. “Migratory birds don’t live in one place,” she said. “They fly fixed routes between breeding grounds and wintering grounds, sometimes thousands of kilometres apart, and along the way they depend on resting sites — places where they might gather in huge numbers to rest and refuel before the journey continues. I think that’s what these three days have been. A gathering at a place along the way that makes the rest of the journey possible.” Honey Kohan, HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS, BirdLife International Europe & Central Asia She spoke of PPNEA in Albania, a hundred days into the nightly Flamingo Protests that have carried an endangered lagoon at Vjosa-Narta all the way to the European Parliament. Of the Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds, in the room, thirty years old this year, whose dedication has not dimmed for a single day of what their country has lived through. Of Burung Indonesia, helping communities recover from the Flores earthquake while their own office in Bogor lay under ash from Krakatoa. Of Julián Mauricio Gutiérrez Grajales in Colombia, killed defending his home, whose work continues in the hands of everyone who follows him. Of Lake Natron, and the soda ash mine Nature Tanzania and the lake communities refused to accept. Of SPNL in Lebanon, reviving the Hima as a path to peace. “Some of you are doing this work while your country is on fire, or underwater, or at war. Some of you have watched years of work undone by an uncontrollable blaze. Some of you are protecting nesting sites in places where protecting anything at all is a risk to your own safety. These are reasons to make anyone stop. But you have not stopped. You keep showing up for a heron, a wetland, a flyway.” Honey Kohan, HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS, BirdLife International Europe & Central Asia And then, the line the week will be remembered by. “Like the birds themselves, I know this isn’t goodbye. It’s just the part of the journey where we scatter again, until the next time.” A visual summary of an extraordinary week. Until the next time The closing dinner had no speeches — only Tim Arinaitwe’s band, playing his BirdLife repertoire, 1Planet1Right, Let’s Fly and this week’s hit single Global Birdsong, as well as his own band’s compositions. There were cocktails named for flyways, and dancing. On Saturday the Partnership scattered to enjoy Kenya’s rich nature: to Lake Elementeita, to Kikuyu Forest, to Nairobi National Park, and from there to 120 countries. Three songs and a Partnership: Tim Arinaitwe → Let’s Fly — the BirdLife anthem (YouTube) None of it would have been possible without those who paid for it. Our formal sponsors are named below and we thank them deeply. One, with no logo, stands out. Mr Haruhiko Doi, whose generosity really made the week possible, was a name most of the room did not know until this week. We shall not soon forget it. As four years ago, the range of what happened in a single week defeats a single page, and we apologise once more for the perhaps encyclopedic nature of this sketch. With an additional special thanks to: JRS, Swarovski Optik, Global Birdfair, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology