Djibouti is the 87th Party to accede to CMS as from 1 November 2004. It occupies a very strategic geographic location at the Horn of Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Djibouti lies on the eastern coast of Central Africa. Its neighbouring countries are Eritrea to the north, Ethiopia to the west and southwest and Somalia to the southeast. The coastline of Djibouti is over 300 km long and borders on the Gulf of Aden as well as on the Red Sea. The overall climate is very dry, as is the land, which is largely of volcanic origin and desert.

Djibouti hosts a number of migratory birds. Over 80 species are covered by CMS Appendices such as the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Little Stint (Calidris minuta), Kittlitz's Plover (Charadrius pecuarius), Common Crane (Grus grus), Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis), Great Crested Tern (Sterna bergii), Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor), Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta), Spur-winged Plover (Vanellus spinosus). Among the migratory waterbirds both the Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) and the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) are species designated for concerted actions under CMS. Djibouti became the 45th Contracting Party to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement in May 2004.

Djibouti is also a Range State to five species of marine turtles, the Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas), the Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) and the Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta), which are covered by the IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU for the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia. The Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) are among the great whales listed on Appendix I. Another marine species of special interest to CMS that occurs in Djibouti waters is the Dugong (Dugong dugon). At the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP7) a recommendation was made to develop a Memorandum of Understanding for the Dugong.

Djibouti has already ratified several environment related Conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with the Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol and the Convention on International Trade in endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).