New Delhi, May 15 -- The vast majority of countries in the Mediterranean littoral across Europe, North Africa and West Asia are failing to deliver on their pledge to halve the illegal killing, taking, and trade of birds (IKB) by 2030, a new study has found.

The study, titled The Killing 3.0: Progress on Eradicating Illegal Killing of Birds in the Mediterranean and Europe, has been brought out by BirdLife International and EuroNatur.

Bird populations have plummeted at shocking rates in recent decades. "Overexploitation, including IKB, is a leading driver of global bird extinctions, second only to habitat loss. Every year, millions of birds are illegally shot, trapped, or poisoned across Europe and the Mediterranean, undermining conserva...