India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals for protecting migratory birds of prey.
The convention is an inter-governmental treaty under the United Nations Environment Programme. There are 122 Parties to it.
The agreement, also called the Raptors MoU, covers 93 species of migratory birds of prey and extends up to 131 range states in the African-Eurasian Region.
A range state means a state that exercises its jurisdiction over any part of the range of a particular migratory species.
Range includes areas (both land and water) that a migratory species inhabits, stays temporarily and crosses or flies over any time on its normal migration route.
Over 50 species of migratory raptors listed in the agreement occur in India which became the 56th signatory to the agreement on Monday.
Around a million Amur Falcons (Falco amurensis) stop in Nagaland annually on their way to wintering areas in Southern Africa from breeding grounds in China and Russia, an official release said. This represents the largest concentration of any species of bird of prey anywhere in the world.
The Raptors MoU will be in effect in India from April 1, 2016.