Tenerife 19 October - CMS' bid to negotiate five new regional species agreements moved up a gear yesterday with the opening of the final session of “WATCH” – Western African Talks on Cetaceans and their Habitats in the Canary Islands. Over 50 delegates, drawn from 23 Western African range states and a range of NGOs began a crucial three-day meeting to determine the form of a new CMS agreement for the Conservation of Small Cetaceans and Manatees in the region. Boosted by the signature of a separate new CMS agreement for the West African monk seal (see earlier announcement), the delegates made good progress on the first day after hearing several detailed presentations on the conservation status of the species and the legal options available to protect them. Dr John Mshelbwala, of Nigeria, was elected as Chair of the meeting. At his suggestion, delegates agreed to establish a working group on manatees, whose wide riverine as well coastal range makes them a unique and threatened species in the region. In his opening statement the Executive Secretary of CMS, Robert Hepworth, called on states to strive to reach an agreement as a tangible legacy of Year of the Dolphin. He paid tribute to the pioneering work of conservationist Dr Koen Van Waerebeek, who has worked with range states on West African marine mammals issues for many years, and helped to lay the scientific foundations for this week's negotiations in Tenerife.

In the final debate on the first day, the range states reached a clear consensus that a CMS agreement should initially focus on small cetaceans (and manatees). The agreement should be in a form which allowed later extension to large whales, but should not at this stage include them, mainly to avoid complicated relations with the IWC.