| Bonn
1 November 2005 : UNEP/CMS today welcomed the election of
Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of UNEP who retires
next year, as Chairman–designate of a new German based
non-profit association to raise funds for conservation and
sustainable development projects which support the aims of
the Convention. To be named Freunde der Bonner Konvention
(“ Friends of CMS”), the association held its
founding meeting at CMS HQ in the Marshall Room at Haus Carstanjen,
Bonn, on 27 October in the presence of the Deputy Mayor of
Bonn, Peter Finger, alongside the Executive Secretary and
other officers of CMS and its “family” of agreements.
Executive Secretary Robert Hepworth said ‘ We have
been working on this initiative for almost a year. “Friends
of CMS” will now be a key plank in our fundraising
platform with the private sector and private individuals
in our host country. The leadership of Klaus Töpfer,
with the support of the other dedicated individuals who
were elected to the Friends’ first Management Board,
will enable us to build on recent successes in persuading
key corporate bodies, such as Lufthansa, National Geographic
Deutschland, and TUI to support our work. Public resources
are tight in many places. We have to find innovative ways
to create new partnerships with the private sector to pursue
conservation, which is in everyone’s interest”.
Robert Hepworth thanked each and every one of the Founding
members together with the CMS Advisor on fundraising, Helge
Weinberg, and other members of the Secretariat for their
work in preparing for the creation of the new association.
He reserved particular thanks for Bonn-based attorney Dr
Jörg Hille, who has worked tirelessly in a voluntary
capacity to draw up the statutes of Freunde der Bonner Konvention.
After finalising the statutes, they were presented on the
spot to the Bonn Notary.
CMS intends to hold a major public event in Bonn next month
to launch the Association.
For further information about Friends of CMS (including
details of how to make donations) please contact
Mr. Helge Weinberg; CMS Advisor, at: +49-40-40 19 67 88,
E-mail: hweinberg@cms.int.
Board of Directors of Freunde der Bonner Konvention
/ Friends of CMS:
Chairman Designate:
Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer,
Executive Director United Nations Environment Programme
UNEP
Deputies:
Klaus Liedtke,
Editor of National Geographic Germany
Prof. Dr. Manfred Niekisch,
International Nature Conservation, University of Greifswald
Dieter Schramm,
President, CIC International Council for Game and Wildlife
Conservation
Treasurer:
Dr. Jörg Hille,
Attorney at Law
Cash Auditors:
Dr. Gerhard Emonds,
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear Safety (retired)
Michael Swoboda,
Chief Executive Officer, Bonn Chamber of Commerce
Click here to download the List
of the Participants of the Founding Assembly
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