Bonn, 29 September 2015 – the CMS Family is pleased to welcome the Federative Republic of Brazil as the 122^nd Party to the Convention, with effect from 1 October.

The largest country in South America, Brazil is one of the most mega-diverse on the planet and hosts the greatest variety of flora and fauna in the world.  Brazil also has the largest number of known species of mammals and freshwater fishes, and with more than 50,000 types of trees and shrubs, it is ranked first in terms of plant diversity.

Brazil boasts a prodigious natural wealth: the diversity of species is directly related to the diversity of ecosystems.  It has millions of acres of native forests, mountains and hills, coastal forests, grasslands, arid areas and both inland and coastal wetlands.  Within this a mosaic of ecosystems can be found a unique range of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, which are unfortunately also highly threatened.

Brazilian territory is a very important part of the range of many migratory animal species listed on Appendix I and II of the Convention.

Many migratory shorebirds that breed in the north of the northern hemisphere cross Brazilian territory especially when visiting its wet grasslands and its coasts during their southward migration between the hemispheres.  One such species is Tryngites subruficollis, the buff-breasted sandpiper which is covered by the MOU on grassland birds.

Along with four other countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay), Brazil has signed this MOU with the aim of cooperating with them to conserve these ecosystems and the species they support, which are among the most threatened in the world.

Brazil is a Party to ACAP, the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels as well as being a Contracting Party to the Ramsar Convention, CITES and CBD.

CMS has already been cooperating with Brazil in the past, in particular on improving the conservation of grassland birds, and is expecting to see joint enhanced efforts in the conservation of migratory species of sea turtles, whales and migratory sharks, which are all essential and unique parts of our common natural heritage.