Elephants in western and central Africa are still in decline despite the increased management of elephant populations in Southern Africa which even create problems of over-population in their remaining limited spaces.

Sturgeons: about 25 large species, important for their caviar production, are in dramatic decline because of over-exploitation, pollution of rivers and coastal marine areas and other man-made impacts.

Antelopes have almost been eradicated over the last 30 years in the northern African arid areas larger in size than the Australian continent.

The beautiful Houbara bustards, birds well adapted to steppe and desert areas and traditional prey for hunting with falcons will disappear from Asia and Africa soon if no strong action is taken.

Albatrosses and other seabirds, dolphins and marine turtles are victims of the so-called by-catch in fisheries activities.

These alarming facts are only some which governmental and non-governmental experts from 100 countries discussed in a global conference in Cape Town, South Africa from 6th - 16th November to ensure better protection for certain migratory species of wild animals at the occasion of the 6th Conference of the Parties to the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

Its main purpose is to foster protection of migratory species across national frontiers - "travellers without a passport" as they were called by Dr. Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme based in Nairobi, Kenya. As stated in Dr. Toepfer’s message to the President of South Africa, Mr. Thabo Mbeki - "they are paramount symbols of the common natural heritage which combine the ecosystems of countries, even continents". The message was carried by emissary eagles from Germany and Poland, tracked by satellite to monitor their migratory routes. A daily updated map of the eagles flight is accessible on the Internet until April 2000 on the CMS homepage at www.wcmc.org.uk/cms.

The conference decided by consensus that seven migratory species (eg. six rare birds and the manatees in the marine areas of Panama and Honduras) be listed as endangered. This will entail their strict legal protection including their habitat, by their Range States. For about thirty other endangered species concerted actions by the Range States were also agreed upon which will result in increased protection measures in addition to national measures and transboundary projects.

Another important decision relates to the more than thirty species being newly listed in Appendix II as species which warrant international transboundary coordination and concerted action. They will be subject to the development of Agreements and action plans amongst the respective Range States.

These will include transboundary research, monitoring, conservation actions, harmonization of legislation, capacity-building and public awareness-raising activities. Amongst these species are listed dolphins in South-East Asia, seven petrel species, twelve sturgeon species of various regions and the Whale Shark.

A prominent event at the conference was the signing by an additional five Range States, inter alia by the Nigerian Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mr. Ima Okopido, of a Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Marine Turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa.

A resolution on by-catch addresses the decision-makers of relevant countries and all fisheries sectors to increase their efforts to improve the fishing technics in order to reduce substantially the incidental death of tremendous numbers of marine turtles, dolphins, other marine mammals and seabirds, including the endangered albatrosses of the southern hemisphere.

The conference also addressed the conservation needs of the Western and Central populations of the African Elephant, the Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes, the severely affected Houbara bustards, Albatrosses, and Marine Turtles. Intensive work will follow to translate these decisions into actions.

Over and above good-will decisions, the wildlife experts, although under severe pressure from their Finance Ministries at home, agreed to invest about US $ 1 million in a two year project plan for the benefit of the species concerned and their habitats, but with real benefits in the longer term to the local communities in the respective countries.

The Secretariat of the Bonn Convention will be strengthened by a modest increase in its personnel capacity and by the integration of the secretariats of three regional Agreements within the Bonn Convention Secretariat, effective early 2000/2001. This will increase synergies between the Agreements and the parent Convention.

The next Conference of the Parties will be held in the Convention’s home city, Bonn, Germany in 2002.

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Background Information:

To date, more than eighty wild animal species enjoy the strict protection offered by the Bonn Convention through being listed under Appendix I. Examples include many whale species, dolphins, Monk Seals, bats, the Snow Leopard, turtles and many species of birds, such as the Osprey and the Siberian Crane. Newly added to the list is the manatee population along the Atlantic Coast of Honduras and Panama. This vegetarian marine mammal was so intensively hunted in the past that today it is extremely endangered. Because national protection alone is not enough and the habitats of the manatee are so polluted and degraded, Panama has proposed the species for listing under Appendix I.

For less endangered species (Appendix II) the Convention requires specially tailored measures and transboundary regional Agreements. They aim to improve or maintain their conservation status through agreed research, protected areas, public education, legislation and mutual assistance. At the suggestion of the Philippines, the whale shark as well as four species of dolphin have been added to Appendix II.

The most comprehensive of the Agreements to date is the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) which has just held its First Meeting in Cape Town at the invitation of the Netherlands. It presently embraces 117 Range States covering 60,000,000 square kilometers and 172 species, such as the White Stork, pelicans, flamingoes and endangered ducks, which are dependent on intact wetlands. "Migratory birds do not just require protection in their breeding and wintering grounds..." says CMS Executive Secretary Arnulf Mueller-Helmbrecht, "...but also in their resting places and along their migration routes."

AEWA is regarded as an essential instrument for the conservation of waterbirds on their migration routes, for the 21st century. According to Dr. Toepfer, "One should bear in mind, that migratory birds have evolved in the course of the last 200 million years. A study carried out by the Max Planck Society has established that over the past 25 years, the number of birds migrating between Europe and Africa has declined by 1% per annum". He concludes "... an alarming thought that these species could become extinct in the next 100-200 years ".

In addition to existing Agreements (Protection of bats in Europe, Seals of the Wadden Sea, small cetaceans of the North and Baltic Seas, cetaceans of the Mediterranean and Black Seas), future measures are to be taken for the protection of albatrosses and petrels.

According to Australian data the birds are particularly threatened in the Southern Hemisphere by long-line fisheries. They swallow the bait which is not intended for them and they die tragically. The casting of fishing lines at night would save many of the marine birds from by-catch. "At least 250,000 albatrosses and petrels have been killed in the past three years " claims an expert from BirdLife International, and continues... " these proud gliders are (therefore) extremely endangered".

For further information please address:

Mr. A. Muller-Helmbrecht
UNEP/CMS Secretariat
Martin-Luther-King-Str. 8
D-53175 Bonn, Germany

Tel.: +49 228-815 24-02/-09/-10
Fax: +49 228-815 24-49

E-mail: cms@unep.de