The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cape Verde, H.E. Maria de Fátima Lima Veiga visited the CMS Secretariat on 4 April. She was accompanied by the responsible Head of the Department for International Cooperation, H.E. the Ambassador of Cape Verde in Germany and the former ambassador Dr Antonio Pires, senior advisor of the UNCCD Secretariat.

The CMS Executive Secretary, Mr Müller-Helmbrecht, gave an introduction to CMS and related Agreements and explained the relevance of CMS for migratory species in the Atlantic region, namely, marine mammals and reptiles and birds. He outlined the synergies of CMS with the conventions on Biological Diversity, Wetlands (Ramsar) and the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD). The Foreign Minister informed the CMS Secretariat that the Government of Cape Verde is particularly interested in improving international cooperation for birds, marine mammals and turtles and will therefore continue its national procedure of joining CMS. The Government is also currently examining accession to the International Whaling Convention (ICRW).