International news

‘Location, location, location” is the real estate agent’s mantra when advising potential house-buyers about purchasing a property. It should also be the first, intermediate and final thought passing through the minds of designers of renewable energy projects. This is especially true of the Middle East — an area where the renewable energy sector is booming with unprecedented levels of investment.

Range State representatives, scientists and conservation experts met last week at the International Academy for Nature Conservation on the German Isle of Vilm to review the implementation of the CMS Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI), to discuss challenges and strategy for further action.

With their long downcurved bills and distinctive call (“cur-loo”), curlews are among the most recognizable of all wading birds. But these large, long-lived shorebirds are also among the most threatened migratory birds on Earth: Two of eight curlew species have not been seen for decades and, tragically, may well be extinct (the Eskimo and the Slender-billed Curlew). Another three (the Eurasian, the Bristle-thighed, and the Far Eastern) are listed as being of conservation concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The third World Fish Migration Day (WFMD) is being celebrated on 21 April 2018, with more than 2,000 organizations involved in over 450 local events worldwide. From river restoration projects to guided fishway tours, public lectures to school workshops, these events support the theme “Connecting Fish, Rivers and People”.

The CMS Workshop on the Conservation Implications of Animal Culture and Social Complexity took place in Parma, Italy from 12 to 14 April. The group of experts convened to advise on how knowledge of animal culture and other aspects of sociality can be used to inform conservation efforts for migratory species. Evidence of social learning, and in some instances more permanent culture, in animals can be seen in the communication, foraging, habitat use, migration and play habits of whales, dolphins, elephants, primates and other species.

CMS Executive Secretary, Bradnee Chambers has been meeting high-level Embassy officials from countries in the Latin American and South-East Asian regions to promote accession to the Convention. On 10 April, Chambers met representatives of El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Also in attendance was a representative from Honduras, which has been a Party to CMS since 2007.

From 19 to 23 March 2018, the 3rd Adriatic Flyway Conference took place in Fruška Gora National Park, Serbia, organized by EuroNatur and the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia (BPSSS, BirdLife Serbia). At this meeting, officials of the Government of Serbia and more than 80 experts and affiliates of Bird Conservation NGOs from central and south-eastern European countries presented and discussed recent findings on the monitoring of migratory bird populations, their conservation status, ecological dynamics and their habitats in the Adriatic Flyway region.

Dr. Bradnee Chambers, CMS Executive Secretary, participated in a live stage interview yesterday at the Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development. The three-day Festival brings together the global community taking action on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of policies to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all by 2030

Meeting in Medellín, Colombia from 17 to 24 March, the 6th session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has adopted five major assessment reports. Three years in development and costing US$5 million, the five reports – one on regional and global land degradation and restoration and four evaluating the contributions of biodiversity and nature to people in four world regions – Africa, the Americas, Asia & the Pacific and Europe & Central Asia – have been prepared by over 550 leading international experts from more than 100 countries.

The 18th International Wildlife Law Conference is taking place from 18 to 19 April 2018 in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The conference is being organized by Tilburg University’s Department of European and International Public Law in partnership with the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy of Stetson University College of Law, USA. Participants are drawn from a wide range of professional fields associated with conservation, including lawyers, policymakers and scientists and from all corners of the world with Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia all represented.