International news

Participants in the Klaus Töpfer Fellowship Programme (KTF) visited the UN Premises in Bonn last week and heard a detailed presentation on the work of the CMS Family

To coincide with World Wildlife Day, the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW) launched an online resource titled the Bushmeat Sourcebook

Today is World Wildlife Day, chosen as it marks the anniversary of the signing of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) one of the two international treaties dedicated to the conservation of wildlife

Bonn, 3 March 2015- Migratory species of wild animals on land, in our skies and across the world’s oceans are increasingly being threatened by wildlife crime.

Reports of elephants and rhino being massacred for their tusks or horns due to demand in Asia often make the headlines. But illegal activities are not confined to trade in luxury items destined for markets in Asia – serious infractions of conservation law are happening in Europe too. Some countries have not fully transposed their commitments under international treaties and EU law in national legislation. Sometimes, excellent provisions contained in national laws are not effectively enforced. In other cases, such as skylarks, the number of animals taken legally are unsustainable. To prevent further declines, more realistic quotas should be set and better management measures adopted.

With 3 March designated as World Wildlife Day, Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, examines the problem of wildlife crime from the angle of asking what the individual citizen can do to help fight to save our living natural heritage.

The Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals is pleased to draw to Parties’ attention to a Notification issued by the CBD Secretariat.

Abu Dhabi, 23 February 2015 - The survival of the humpback whale population in the Arabian Sea, the smallest and most endangered humpback whale population in the world, is threatened by human activities, particularly entanglement in fishing nets, shipping and coastal development.

The Secretariat has received a number of messages from around the world expressing concern at the Taiji dolphin drive hunts.

To mark the anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention – an intergovernmental agreement seeking to protect wetlands of international importance – the 2nd of February each year is celebrated as “World Wetlands Day” which is a significant event in the calendar of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) too. Jacques Trouvilliez, Executive Secretary of AEWA, explains why.