The CMS Secretariat is pleased to inform Parties about the award ceremony which will be held in the margins of the Thirteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) (COP13, 15 - 22 February 2020,Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India). The Champion Night will take place in the evening of 16 February 2019, and will be followed by a reception.  

The Migratory Species Champion Programmewas launched at COP11 in 2014 to support work under the Convention and its agreements. Since its launch in 2014, 12 Champions have been recognized.

Anyone can become a Champion - governments, companies, organizations and individuals. Champions commit financial resources for at least three years for one or more initiatives which contribute to the implementation of work related to a species, a group of species or a cross-cutting issue. Initiatives include a set of activities such as organization of meetings, research, or development of specific products or campaigns, and can include other means of support such as provision of personnel.

There are a wide-range of issues to which new Champions could contribute. These include:  support for the work of the CMS Energy Task Force, addressing the impacts of infrastructure development on migratory species, furthering the conservation of migratory landbirds, and  addressing the unstainable harvest of species as aquatic wild meat. 

The Secretariat invites Parties and stakeholders to make a pledge to support the implementation of  the Convention, and to become a Champion.

Interested Parties and Stakeholders are invited to contact the Secretariat for more information. Please visit the Champion Programme websiteat: www.migratoryspecies.org/en/champion and contact Ms. Laura Cerasi, [email protected], CMS Fundraising and PartnershipsOfficer.