The 3rd Meeting of the Range States for the European Eel (Anguilla anguilla) held from 25 to 26 June 2019 in Malmo, Sweden highlighted the urgent need to do more to protect the species’ critically endangered population. The meeting was co-organized by the Sargasso Sea Commission, and funded jointly with the Government of the Principality of Monaco.

At its Eleventh Meeting held in Brazil this May, the Advisory Committee of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels identified an urgent and persistent conservation crisis for albatrosses and petrels. Thousands of albatrosses and petrels are continuing to die every year as a result of fisheries operations, notably by longline and trawl vessels. Considerable efforts by ACAP and other bodies have been put into researching and recommending effective mitigation measures to address seabird bycatch in fisheries. Nevertheless, in many instances these recommendations have not been fully implemented or have not been implemented at all.

The size of the Mediterranean Monk Seal population off Mauritania’s Atlantic coast is recovering after centuries of continuous decline. The species’ largest colony in the Cabo Blanco peninsula has more than tripled since 2004. Thanks to the effective implementation of a regional Action Plan, it now numbers 360 individuals.

The Third Meeting of the Parties of the Gorilla Agreement held from 18 to 20 June 2019 in Entebbe, Uganda highlighted the urgent need to conserve gorillas. Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, Senior Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Government of Uganda, said: “Conservation of gorillas is a moral, constitutional, cultural and economic imperative.”

Today, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the Federal Ministry and CMS co-hosted a reception in Berlin, attended by diplomatic representatives from dozens of countries. Minister Svenja Schulze stressed the special importance of species protection across the world. She called for even more countries to join the Convention. The Convention is the only global treaty dealing with the conservation of migratory animals and their habitats around the world, including birds, whales, dolphins, sharks, elephants, antelopes and gorillas.

Sunday, 23 June marks the 40th anniversary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the “Bonn Convention” after the city in which it was signed. It is the only global treaty dealing with the conservation of migratory species and their habitats across the world, including birds, whales, dolphins, sharks, elephants, antelopes, and gorillas.

Shift to renewable energy could have biodiversity cost, researchers caution.

Environment