Bonn, 26 September 2002 - A special ceremony was held at the close of the first day of the Seventh Conference of the Parties. The Ambassador of Uzbekistan, H.E. Norov, signed the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Conservation and Restoration of the Bukhara Deer, concluded in May 2002. Uzbekistan is the fourth Range State to sign the Memorandum of Understanding and joins Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, the three other Bukhara Deer Range States. Arnulf Müller-Helmbrecht, Executive Secretary of CMS, stated that the MoU was concluded in record time: "It is an outstanding example of cooperation between Central Asian countries." Dieter Schramm, President of the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC,) added his signature to the document on 26 September.

Germany signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of the Central-European Population of the Great Bustard bringing the number of signatory States to ten. Considering the intensive preparations with regard to sign this particular Memorandum, Gila Altmann, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment said: "For me it is a great moment." The Central European population of the Great Bustard has declined dramatically in Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt. This Memorandum aims at strengthening international cooperation between Range States with a view to prevent this bird from extinction.

Two important Range States, Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire, signed the Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation Measures for Marine Turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa. Ambassador H.E. Melega of Cameroon and Ambassador H.E. Atse Amin of Côte d'Ivoire signed on behalf of their governments. With the signing by these countries covering the Gulf of Guinea and the Congo Basin, the ability of CMS as to conserve one of oldest species on earth has grown considerably.