International news

CMS congratulates Dr. Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, who is one of the winners of the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity 2014. Dr. Oteng-Yeboah is the Chair of the Ghana National Biodiversity Committee and has been the Chair of the CMS Standing Committee since 2011 as well as the COP-appointed Scientific Councillor for African Fauna. He is a leading advocate of biodiversity in Africa. In addition, he has fulfilled important roles as a representative of Ghana and Africa in major meetings related to conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity including significant contributions to the Convention on Biological Diversity and other biodiversity-related processes.

Representatives and observers from 25 countries have reached agreement on a suite of measures that will strengthen efforts to conserve marine turtles in and around the Indian Ocean.

Bonn, 12 September 2014 - Representatives and observers from 25 countries have reached agreement on a suite of measures that will strengthen efforts to conserve marine turtles in and around the Indian Ocean.

The Government of Zimbabwe together with the CMS Secretariat and UNEP ROA/DELC) are co-organizing the “Regional Preparatory and Negotiations Workshop for African Nations” to be held on 21-23 September in Harare, Zimbabwe to prepare representatives for the upcoming 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CMS COP11).

Punta del Este, 10 September 2014 - The Eighth Meeting of the Advisory Committee (AC8) of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) will be held from Monday, 15 September to Friday, 19 September 2014, in Punta del Este, Uruguay. A Heads of Delegation meeting will be convened on Sunday, 14 September 2014 in the evening.

International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD) 2014 offers a unique opportunity for the Coordinating Unit of the CMS Raptors MoU to celebrate its collaboration with the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB – BirdLife Bulgaria) to develop a ‘Flyway Action Plan (FAP) for the Conservation of the Balkan and Central Asian Populations of the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)’.

Next week, delegates and experts from more than 25 countries across the Indian Ocean – South-East Asia region will assemble in Bonn, Germany, to tackle a packed agenda focusing on marine turtle conservation. Perhaps best known as birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven and the former capital of West Germany, Bonn is also home to IOSEA's parent organization, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

Credentials and Full Powers for the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties

The UNEP/CMS Secretariat, in conjunction with the Department of Fisheries of Fiji and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP), successfully completed the regional preparatory workshop for the 11th Conference of the Parties to CMS (COP 11). The workshop took place in Nadi, Fiji on 18-20 August 2014.

The UNEP/CMS Secretariat, in conjunction with the Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, successfully completed the preparatory workshop for the 11th Conference of the Parties to CMS (COP 11) in Santiago, Chile from 11-13 August 2014.