Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), “On the Move to 2010” - Nairobi, Kenya

Background

This year is the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Bonn Convention or CMS. It aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is an intergovernmental treaty, under the United Nations Environment Programme, concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale. Currently, 92 countries are Parties to the CMS.

Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I of the Convention. CMS Parties strive towards protecting these animals, conserving or restoring the places where they live and mitigating obstacles to migration.

Migratory species that need or would significantly benefit from international co-operation are listed in Appendix II of the Convention. For these species, the Convention encourages the Range States to conclude global or regional Agreements. In this respect, CMS acts as a framework Convention.

Key Issues for WWF at the meeting

Bycatch
Billions of unwanted animals (cetaceans, turtles, fish, birds, etc.) are caught every year by fishing boats then discarded dead or dying back into the ocean. Known as bycatch, the incidental capture of these so-called “non-target species” is a major fisheries management problem, wasting time and billions of dollars in damaged gear and inefficient fishing methods. It’s also one of the greatest threats to the marine environment, wasting a valuable natural resource and causing dramatic declines in populations of many marine species. WWF will be supporting a resolution proposed by Australia which directs the CMS Parties, the CMS Secretariat and the CMS Scientific Council to undertake a series of specific activities to tackle this global threat.

Saiga Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Saiga antelope populations numbered over one million as recently as the early 1990s, but have been reduced to no more then 40,000 in total. Poaching and illegal trade in horns, uncontrolled hunting for meat, destruction of habitat, and construction of irrigation channels, roads and other obstacles preventing natural dispersion and migration have all contributed to recent saiga population declines. An MOU bringing together the range states of this species in coordinated conservation action is due to be signed at this meeting. WWF has been involved in the development of this MoU, in Saiga work on the ground and in other policy fora such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). WWF fully supports the signing of this instrument as a positive measure to reverse the alarming declines of this species throughout its range (the species is found in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia).

Proposal to list Atlantic sturgeon on Appendix I
This species was once abundant along the coasts and in large rivers in Europe, but today only one population remains. It is Europe’s largest freshwater fish and the exploitation of the caviar which it produces was one of the key factors leading to its decline. WWF supports the proposal from the French government to list the Atlantic Sturgeon on Appendix I of the Convention, a move which will strengthen the international legislative basis for further action by the range states to ensure this species does not decline further towards extinction. Atlantic sturgeon is currently listed only on Appendix II of CMS.

West African Elephant Memorandum of Understanding
The forest elephants of Western and Central Africa are far more threatened than the savannah elephants of southern and eastern Africa, mainly due to poaching and loss of forest habitat. Most countries in West Africa count their elephants in tens or hundreds, with animals scattered in small blocks of isolated forest. Probably only two countries in this region have more than 1,000 animals. An MOU for West African elephant range states will be presented at this meeting, and WWF fully supports this MoU as an effective instrument to facilitate and develop concerted and coordinated efforts to conserve this species.