Among the topics to be discussed by governments at the CMS COP14 in Samarkand are several relating specifically to terrestrial species, along with cross-cutting issues crucial for the conservation of species listed under the Convention on Migratory Species. These topics include linear infrastructure development, the establishment of trans-frontier conservation areas, and measures to combat the illegal and unsustainable taking of species.

A new report published today in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution has found that Africa’s birds of prey may be facing an extinction crisis. According to the report by an international team of researchers, African savanna raptors such as the Rüppell's Vulture, the Steppe Eagle, and the iconic Secretarybird are showing evidence of widespread and significant population declines and a growing dependence on protected areas across the African continent.

At the Fifth Meeting of Signatories (MOS5) of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of the Middle-European Population of the Great Bustard (Otis tarda), delegates from the 14 Signatory States and Cooperating Organizations agreed on transboundary conservation measures for the Great Bustard. The measures agreed in Bratislava aim to improve the conservation status of this iconic species, the ‘King of the Steppe’, which inhabits the open plains of Europe and Asia.

In the lead-up to the forthcoming 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14), the Government of Uzbekistan and the CMS Secretariat are pleased to unveil the conference's official logo and slogan. The UN wildlife conservation conference is set to take place in the historic city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 12 to 17 February 2024.