Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range.

It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale. Since the Convention's entry into force, its membership has grown steadily to over 100 Parties from Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

CMS is the only global (and UN-based) intergovernmental organization which is established exclusively for the conservation and management of migratory species. Although migratory species in general are included in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and migratory fish species are covered by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), these conventions do not provide for the special instruments for the conservation work to be done.

Other global wildlife conventions, such as Ramsar, CITES and the World Heritage Convention, have their specific fields of application. It may, however, arise that regional agreements concluded under the auspices of CMS to a certain extent overlap some global or regional conventions. For this reason, the CMS Secretariat has developed instruments to communicate and co-operate effectively with the secretariats of other international conventions.

To read more, click here