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Exciting news has reached the CMS Secretariat that TRACKS, the special “Inflight Magazine” distributed to delegates attending the CMS COP12 in Manila in November 2017 has been nominated for two publishing awards. The 82 page magazine, TRACKS won a silver award topping the not-for-profit category at the Mercury Excellence Awards 2017-18 and has recently also been shortlisted at the Best of Content Marketing (BCM) awards in the categories “Specials and Annuals” and “Cover of the Year”.

From 9 to 11 May 2018, a workshop for prosecutors and investigators on wildlife crime took place in Valsaín, Segovia, Spain. The workshop was jointly organized by the“Wildlife Crime” Working Group of the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environments (ENPE) and the CMS Secretariat. The workshop brought together prosecutors and investigators responsible for the enforcement against environmental and wildlife crime from 17 countries, mostly from the Mediterranean region, including North Africa and Middle East, as well as legal experts from ENPE.

“Unifying Our Voices for Bird Conservation” is the theme of World Migratory Bird Day 2018, which will be celebrated in over 60 countries around the world on 12 May 2018.
World Migratory Bird Day is an annual, UN-backed global awareness-raising and environmental education campaign focused on migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.

“Unifying our Voices for Bird Conservation” is the theme of World Migratory Bird Day 2018. Among the significant, but often underestimated threats to migratory birds across the African-Eurasian Flyways - the major bird migration corridors which links Europe, Africa and Western Asia - is lead poisoning. The UN Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), two international environment treaties behind World Migratory Bird Day are also driving international efforts to tackle this global threat.

A four-day summit concluded in Abu Dhabi on 26 April, at which many of the key players in global bird conservation participated representing NGOs, the scientific community, governments and the CMS Family. The main item under discussion was how migratory birds can be better protected at every point of their arduous journeys along the flyways.

Scientists, policy makers, civil society and industry will convene in Montreal, Canada for the 4th World Conference on Marine Biodiversity (WCMB-4) from 13 to 16 May. Over 1,000 delegates from more than 75 countries will participate in this global forum, which aims to spotlight marine biodiversity’s key role in sustaining ocean ecosystems, uncover research and policy challenges and priorities, and facilitate discussion and cooperation between stakeholders.

The Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS) would like to draw attention to three calls from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform

‘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.