IFAW: Greater protection secured for elephants, tigers, dolphins and turtles

Some of the world’s most threatened animals were afforded greater protection this week at the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) taking place in Rome.

The Convention focused on endangered species from all corners of the earth and saw decisions made to further protect elephants in Africa, tigers in Asia, turtles in the Pacific, dolphins in South East Asia and seals, narwhals and polar bears at risk from climate change.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) congratulates CMS Parties for making such excellent progress during the week-long meeting where many countries made commitments to robust agreements and cross border alliances to actively protect wildlife and their habitats. There were also crucial discussions and agreements on how to tackle some of the main threats to marine species such as ocean noise, climate change and by-catch from fishing practices.

However, IFAW believes that adequate resources are essential to the success of this unique conservation treaty as it approaches its 30th anniversary next year and therefore it is vital that after such a successful meeting, countries provide the time and money needed to ensure that these agreements are properly implemented.

“The Convention was far reaching, covering gravely threatened species from all corners of the globe,” said Darren Kindleysides, IFAW’s Programmes Manager and Head of Delegation to the CMS meeting.

“We were delighted to see solid agreements made to protect many key species from polar bears in the cold of the arctic to turtles in the warm seas of the Pacific. Now it is critical that countries pledge funding to ensure these much-needed collaborative agreements are fully implemented to protect some of the planet’s most threatened animals.

“Our wildlife is facing its very own global financial crisis. Without further investment we cannot hope to fully safeguard migratory species.”

Ends

Notes to editors

Images are available on request. For further information, please contact Amanda Gent on
+44 (0) 20 7587 6765 or agent@ifaw.org

CMS

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is an international intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the United Nations Environment Programme, concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale.

Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I of the Convention. CMS Parties strive towards strictly protecting these animals, conserving or restoring the places where they live, removing obstacles to migration and controlling other factors that might endanger them. CMS promotes concerted action among the Range States of many species.

Migratory species which would significantly benefit from international co-operation are listed in Appendix II of the Convention and the Convention encourages Range States to reach global or regional Agreements. The Agreements may be legally binding treaties called Agreements or less formal instruments, such as Memoranda of Understanding. The development of models tailored according to the conservation needs throughout the migratory range is a unique capacity to CMS.

IFAW

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – www.ifaw.org) is a leading international animal welfare organisation and has campaigned for decades to protect whales, elephants and other threatened species.

IFAW is formally recognised as a partner organisation to the CMS and works to advance the development and implementation of Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) concluded under the auspices of CMS.

IFAW has also participated as observers to CITES meetings for more than a decade, and works with the CITES Secretariat in Geneva to promote the protection of animal species threatened by trade.