African Lion © John Birch; Caspian Seal © Mirgaliy Baimukanov, ihe.kz, kaspika.org; Chimpanzee © Clara Nobbe; Gobi Bear © Jenny E. Ross; Leopard © John Birch

Representatives of governments attending the year’s foremost wildlife summit have today taken a major step towards agreeing to strengthen measures for the conservation of a wide range of migratory species. The Conference of the Parties has today given the green light to add a number of endangered animals to the two Appendices of the Convention. Listing on Appendix I requires governments of Parties to protect the species while Appendix II calls for international cooperation to ensure that the conservation status of a species is favourable.

• UN Bonn

© Aydin Bahramlouian

Three leading bird conservation organizations today announced an innovative partnership to boost awareness of the plight of migratory birds around the globe. The new alliance formally unites two of the world’s largest bird education campaigns, International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) and World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) in a bid to strengthen recognition and appreciation of migratory birds and highlight the urgent need for their conservation.

• UN Bonn

Marine animals exposed to elevated or prolonged human-generated noise can suffer direct injury and temporary or permanent damage to their hearing © Klaus Lucke

A new set of guidelines for regulators will significantly help to manage marine noise, which is increasingly posing a major threat to many marine animals. Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), said the recommendations are a response to a historically unprecedented increase in marine noise.

• UN Bonn

Mr. Erik Solheim, UN Environment Executive Director © DENR

UN Environment’s Executive Director, Erik Solheim conveyed an upbeat message when he addressed delegates on the third day of the CMS Conference of Parties. On the prospects for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, his final rallying cry echoed Barack Obama’s election slogan “Yes We Can”.

• UN Bonn

TRACKS – the Inflight Magazine for CMS COP12, now available as extended online version

The extended, online version of the COP12 “inflight magazine”, TRACKS is now available on the CMS website. It contains all the material in the printed edition which was distributed to all COP12 delegates as well as some additional features, articles and stories.

• UN Bonn

A group of 13 spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) resting under a glassy surface at Samadai Reef, Egypt © A. Cesario

The first-ever comprehensive review of whale and dolphin populations in the Red Sea has raised concerns about threats to these migrant species in a marine region where they were thought to be largely sheltered from the impacts of human activity and climate change. A major new report by the Bonn-based Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) provides the only complete record of cetaceans in the Red Sea, which is crossed by some of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

• UN Bonn

Whale Shark © David Robinson

The Twelfth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP12) opened in the Philippines today. It marks the first time CMS has convened a COP in Asia since the international treaty was adopted in Bonn, Germany in 1979. and came into force in 1985.

• UN Bonn

TERRA - a Pictorial Impression of Proposed CMS Species

In his status as UN Environment Global Goodwill Ambassador, Yann Arthus-Bertrand was invited by Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), to deliver the keynote speech on the opening day of COP12 in Manila, Philippines. Yann is also founder and President of the GoodPlanet Foundation. GoodPlanet has the mission to raise awareness and bring people to action on matters related to ecology and humanism. Consequently, Yann and GoodPlanet offered to edit a book showcasing the animals that CMS aims to protect: 35 new migratory species proposed to CMS Appendices I and II.

• UN Bonn

Ida Carlén, Sweden

Name: Ida Carlén Organisation: Coalition Clean Baltic Country: Sweden Involved with ASCOBANS since: on and off since 2003

• UN Bonn

Roy Cimatu, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippines, and Bradnee Chambers, CMS Executive Secretary © IISD

Governmental representatives from more than 30 Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) today concluded proposals that will pave the way for greater recognition of the role of wildlife in achieving global sustainable development goals. The Manila Declaration on Sustainable Development and Migratory Species will be considered for adoption to the Twelfth CMS Conference of the Parties (COP12), which opens in the Philippines tomorrow.

• UN Bonn

Renewable energy technologies must be deployed in a way that they do not harm wildlife

The development and deployment of new technologies to deliver the world’s energy needs from renewable sources are essential if we are to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. To stop or reverse climate change and to provide the world’s growing human population with the energy it needs, then hydro-, oceanic, wind and solar power must to be part of the mix.

• UN Bonn

Dr. Bradnee Chambers, CMS Executive Secretary speaking during the leader's breakfast © Aydin Bahramlouian

Government Ministers, business leaders and senior representatives from international organizations met today in the Philippines for frank talks on mitigating the detrimental impact of pollution on wildlife and ecosystems. The outcome - delegates pledged to step up efforts to combat pollution - will send a powerful signal to other leaders, ahead of the Third Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA3), which takes place in December, in Nairobi, Kenya. It will also stimulate debate at this week’s Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (COP12).

• UN Bonn

Przewalski’s Horses, one of Central Asia’s rarest species © Grunewald

Dubbed the ‘Serengeti of the North,’ Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. The vast deserts, semi‑deserts, grasslands and high mountains of Central Asia and adjacent regions, support some of the world’s last remaining large mammal migrations. Yet, unlike its African counterpart, it has been largely overlooked by conservation efforts.

• UN Bonn

Cheetah © John Birch; Wild Dogs © John Birch; African Lion © Jacques-Andre Dupont; Leopard © Nick Dale

Two influential UN-related wildlife bodies are proposing to join forces on a new initiative to halt the serious decline of Africa’s great carnivores. The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will submit their plan to the CMS COP12 wildlife summit in Manila later this month. Proposals for inclusion of the Lion and Leopard on CMS Appendix II will also be discussed at the meeting.

• UN Bonn

Wheatear caught in trammel net © Mindy El Bashir/Nature Conservation Egypt

A new intergovernmental task force to curb the illegal killing of birds crossing one of the world’s greatest migration paths will be high on the agenda at this year’s largest wildlife summit, which takes place in Manila next month. The East Asian-Australasian Flyway spans 22 countries from the Russian Federation to Alaska in the USA in the north, through much of Eastern Asia to the Western Pacific and Australia and New Zealand in the south.

• UN Bonn

Wind farm © Pixabay.com

Results from the first global scientific review of the impacts of wind farms on bird and bat populations could help guide the design and location of such facilities to reduce animal mortality from collisions. The study, published in September 2017, related collision rate to species-level traits and turbine characteristics to measure the potential vulnerability of 9,538 bird and 888 bat species globally.

• UN Bonn

©Greg Piper

Guidelines to ensure marine animals are better protected from boat-based wildlife watching will be presented at a major migratory species summit in Manila later this month. Leisure cruising to view whales, dolphins, sharks, rays and turtles, as well as seabird colonies is a fast-growing commercial activity worldwide, with positive impacts on local economies.

• UN Bonn

Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis), Margaretenkoog, Denmark © Peter Prokosch, Grid Arendal

Migratory species rely on a network of interlinked habitats throughout their journeys, including for feeding, resting and breeding. But their dependence on multiple sites makes them particularly vulnerable: When one or more of these habitats is fragmented by a road or dam, for example, or destroyed by human activity, such as agriculture or mining, it can impact on the species’ long- term survival.

• UN Bonn

The Secretariat would like to bring to your attention that there will be closed regional consultation meetings held daily from 22 October until the last day of COP12 (apart from th

• UN Bonn

TRACKS – the Inflight Magazine for CMS COP12

For the upcoming CMS Conference of the Parties (CMS COP12), the Joint Communications Team of the CMS and AEWA Secretariat decided to try to break new ground by producing a rather unconventional publication by abandoning the standard format for conference brochures. Considering the “air, land and sea miles” that some of the migratory species on the CMS Appendices clock up on their vast migrations every year, what would be more appropriate to emulate than an airline Inflight magazine?

• UN Bonn