Anthropogenic Impact:

►    The CMS Resolution 12.20(Manila, 2017) on Management of Marine Debris includes:

Commercial Marine Vessel Best Practice

12.          Calls upon Parties and invites other stakeholders to address the issue of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), by following the strategies set out under the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries;

13.          Further encourages Parties and invites other stakeholders to work towards achieving Goal B of the Global Framework for Prevention and Management of Marine Debris, agreed as part of the Honolulu Strategy: “Reduced amount and impact of sea-based sources of marine debris, including solid waste; lost cargo; abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG); and abandoned vessels, introduced into the sea”;

14.          Invites Parties to MARPOL Annex V to review and improve, if required, provisions regarding applicability to fishing vessels and deliberate abandonment of fish aggregating devices (FADs) and other types of fishing gear that contain plastics;

► Decision 12.26 on the Task Force on Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean (MIKT) directed to the Parties which are members of the MIKT:

a) Periodically use the scoreboard in Annex 1 of UNEP/CMS/Resolution 11.16 (Rev.COP12) on Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds as a national tool to self-assess progress in addressing the illegal killing of wild birds;

b) Provide, on a voluntary basis and to the extent of availability and relevance of information for the indicators, the Secretariat with the information identified in the scoreboard, for the purposes of discussion within the MIKT, to facilitate information sharing and best practice.  

► Decision 12.27 on the Task Force on Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean (MIKT) directed to Parties, IGOs & NGOs, decides that: Others Parties, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to implement the Programme of Work of MIKT 2016-2020.

►     The COP Resolution 12.21 Climate Change and Migratory Speciesincludes:

Measures to facilitate species adaptation in response to climate change:

• Improve the resilience of migratory species and their habitats to climate change, and ensure habitat availability for the full lifecycle of the species, now and in the future, inter alia through the following actions:
• o Identify and prioritize areas currently experiencing rapid climate impacts that are important to migratory species.
• o Ensure that individual sites are sufficiently large, holding a variety of habitats and topography.
• o Ensure there is physical and ecological connectivity between sites, aiding species dispersal and colonization when distributions shift.
• o Consider the designation of seasonal protected areas or restrictions on land-use in areas where migratory species occur at critical stages in their lifecycle and would benefit from such protection.
• o Undertake specific management to eliminate, counteract or compensate for detrimental impacts of climate change and other potential threats that may interact with or exacerbate climate change.

Aquatic Species

►    The CMS COP Resolution 12.15 on Aquatic Wild Meat includes:

1. Requests the Scientific Council to establish a thematic Working Group dealing with aquatic wild meat, to provide expert advice to the CMS Parties, to collaborate with relevant organizations such as the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and to coordinate science and policy participation with the relevant Memoranda of Understanding concluded under CMS, and consulting with the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS) as relevant;

2. Recommends that Parties, non-Party Range States and other stakeholders, including nongovernmental organizations, cooperate, as appropriate, to:

 a. increase collaboration and information sharing among CMS Parties to understand better and monitor aquatic wild meat harvests;

 b. increase scientific knowledge and understanding of the impacts of subsistence use of CMS-listed species as aquatic wild meat on the survival and regeneration of these species, in the context of growing human populations and pressures on wildlife resources and ecosystems;

c. provide adequate financial, technical and capacity support to ensure that the harvest of CMS-listed species of aquatic wild meat for subsistence purposes is legal and sustainable

Avian Species

►    The  CMS COP Resolution 11.18 (Rev.COP12) on Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) Global Action Plan (SAKERGAP) includes:

4. Further decides to continue the Saker Falcon Task Force, under the auspices of the Coordinating Unit of the CMS Raptors MoU, and instructs the Task Force to:

a) Actively promote the implementation of the SakerGAP, including by continuing to facilitate engagement, communication, cooperation and collaboration between the stakeholders;

b) Further develop, refine and implement an adaptive management and monitoring framework to improve the present conservation status of the Saker Falcon through, inter alia, regulated and sustainable use; and

 c) Keep under review the option to down-list the species;

►    The CMS COP Resolution12. 11 (Manila 2017) on Flyways includes:

6. Calls on Parties to effectively implement the POW as applicable and in accordance with the circumstances of each Party and invites non-Parties and other stakeholders, with the support of the Secretariat, to strengthen national and local capacity for flyway conservation including, inter alia, by developing partnerships with key stakeholders and organizing training courses; translating and disseminating documents, sharing protocols and regulations; transferring technology; designating and improving management of critically and internationally important sites; understanding the ecological functionality of flyways through research of migratory birds and their habitats; strengthening monitoring programmes; and promoting the conservation of migratory birds and ensuring any use of migratory birds is sustainable;

Interdisciplinary

►    The Resolution 12.07 The Role of Ecological Networks in the Conservation of Migratory Species, includes:

4. Encourages Parties and other Range States, when identifying areas of importance to migratory terrestrial, avian and aquatic species, to take into account and make explicit by description, schematic maps or conceptual models the relationship between those areas and other areas which may be ecologically linked to them, in physical terms, for example as connecting corridors, or in other ecological terms, for example as breeding areas related to non-breeding areas, stopover sites, feeding and resting places;

5. Invites Parties and other Range States and relevant organizations to collaborate to identify, designate and maintain comprehensive and coherent ecological networks of protected sites and other adequately managed sites of international and national importance for migratory animals while taking into account resilience to change, including climate change, and existing ecological networks;

7. Highlights the added value of developing ecological networks under CMS where no other network instruments are available, as for example with the West Central Asian Flyway Site Network and the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Site Network, and urges Parties and invites Range States to strengthen management of existing network sites and their further development through designation and management of additional sites;

► Decisions 12.83-12.88 on Addressing Unsustainable Use of Terrestrial and Avian Wild Meat of Migratory Species of Wild Animals  include:

Decision 12.83 directed to the Secretariat:

The Secretariat shall, subject to the availability of external resources, and working within the Convention’s remit:

a) Prepare an analysis on the direct and indirect impacts of wild meat taking, trade and consumption on terrestrial and avian species listed on CMS Appendices I and II;

b) On the basis of the findings made under paragraph a), cooperate with the partners of the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW) and, in particular, with:

i. The Secretariats of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as the Presidencies of their respective Conferences of the Parties through the Secretariats of CBD and CITES, in raising the importance of unsustainable wild meat taking, trade and consumption within the global policy agenda;

ii. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on Sustainable Wildlife Management issues, as they relate to CMS-listed species and to present the lessons learned to the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties;

iii. The Executive Secretary of the CBD and other members of the CPW to contribute to the further elaboration of technical guidance for better governance towards a sustainable wild meat (including bushmeat) sector, as set out in CBD Decision CBD/COP/DEC/XIII/8;

Decision 12.84 directed to Parties : Parties are invited to cooperate with the Secretariat in the implementation of Decisions 12.83, by:

a) Providing information and data to the analysis mentioned in paragraph a);

b) Supporting the discussions on wild meat in global policy fora mentioned in paragraph b) i.; and

c) Supporting the development and implementation of governance towards a sustainable wild meat sector mentioned in paragraph b) iii.

Decision 12.85 directed to Parties

Parties are invited to consider, where relevant via co-operation between CMS and CITES National Focal Points, regulating trade in wild meat of terrestrial and avian species listed on CMS Appendices I and II in order to avoid negative effects on the conservation status of source populations.

Please, also continuing in implementing the following instruments:

►    The  Americas Flyways Framework: A Framework For The Conservation Of Migratory Birds In The Americas attached to Resolution 12.11as Annex 2

►    The Action Plan for the Americas Flyways 2018-2023 attached to Resolution 12.11 as Annex 3

►    The Action Plan for the Far Eastern Curlew adopted through COP Resolution 12.12

►    The Action Plan the Baer’s Pochard adopted through COP Resolution 12.12

►    The Action Plan for the European Roller adopted through COP Resolution 12.12

►    The Multi-Species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP) adopted through COP Resolution 12.10 on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Vultures

►    Decision 12.36 on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Vultures, directed to Parties, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, that decides as follows: Parties, non-Party Range States and stakeholders are encouraged to:

a) Develop partnerships with anti-poaching initiatives and conservation groups concerned with poisoning of other taxonomic groups, including developing training courses, translating and disseminating examples of best practice, sharing protocols and regulations, transferring technology, and promoting the use of online tools to address specific issues that are relevant to the Vulture Multispecies Action Plan;

b) Contribute, with the support of the Secretariat, to the proposed workshop hosted by CMS-United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), referred to in UNEP/CMS/COP12/Doc.24.1.2 on the Conservation of Migratory Landbirds in the African-Eurasian Region (especially in relation to sustainable land use in Africa), to ensure the needs of vultures are provided for in the development of a plan (to be proposed for adoption at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties) on the integration of biodiversity requirements, as indicated by wild birds, into the land degradation neutrality delivery at national level with a focus on West Africa (countries of the Sahel and Guinea Savannah) and potentially also North-West Africa (countries of the Maghreb), subject to the availability of resources

►    The Action Plan for the Protection and Conservation of South Atlantic Whales included as Annex in CMS COP Resolution 12.17

►   Decision 12.54 on the Conservation and Management of Whales and their Habitats in the South Atlantic Region, directed to Parties: Parties are requested to report on progress in implementing the Action Plan for the Protection and Conservation of South Atlantic Whales (Annex 1 to UNEP/CMS/Resolution 12.17 on Conservation and management of Whales and their Habitats in the South Atlantic Region), including monitoring and efficacy of measures taken, to the Conference of the Parties at each of its meetings.

►    The Roadmap for The Conservation of The African Wild Ass, Equus Africanus adopted through CMS COP Resolution 12.18