Asia Pacific Illegal Taking of Migratory Birds Intergovernmental Task Force (ITTEA)

The Task Force is established in line with the mandate provided by the Resolution 11.16 (Rev.COP14), entitled “The Prevention of Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds” to assist the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and its associated instruments, relevant MEAs and Conventions to fulfil their obligations to protect migratory birds from illegal hunting, taking and trade.

The Task Force has the goal of ensuring that no illegal hunting, taking and trade of migratory birds (IHB) takes place in East Asian - Australasian Flyway (EAAF). To reach its goal the Task Force will facilitate concerted efforts and procedures to combat IHB in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway in close cooperation with the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP). In January 2017, Decision 10 of the 9^th Meeting of the Partners (MOP9) of the EAAFP, following the recommendation of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), adopted the terms of reference of an interim task force to address illegal hunting, taking and trade of migratory waterbirds in the EAAF.

Yellow-breasted Bunting_male breeding_Peter and Michelle Wong

Photo: Yellow-breasted bunting populations have declined by 90% since 1980. © Peter and Michelle Wong

Scope of the Task Force

The geographical remit of the Task Force covers all states of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway as follows; Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea (South Korea), the Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), United States of America and Vietnam. The Task Force covers all migratory bird taxa as identified by CMS, with work on waterbird taxa to be led by the EAAFP.

Among the most important activities of the Task Force will include, but are not limited to:

(1) Support and guide a regional review on the status of hunting regulations in relation to migratory bird species in the EAAF,

(2) Support and guide a proposed situation analysis on IHB in the flyway, building on the existing work of CMS MIKT in the Mediterranean, Europe and Middle East,

(3) Promote and facilitate the implementation of decisions and plans adopted in the framework of relevant MEAs or other frameworks, especially the CMS, AMBI and Bilateral Migratory Bird Agreements.

(4) Stimulate internal and external communication and exchange of information, experience, best practice and know-how,

(5) Assist in resource mobilization for priority actions including cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),

(6) Monitor the implementation of the relevant decisions and plans and their effectiveness and regularly submit progress reports to the governing bodies of participating MEAs, including via an intergovernmental ‘scoreboard’ to indicate progress on eliminating IHB,

(7) Strengthen regional and international networks with experience on IHB and,

Liaise and share experience with both the CMS MIKT Task Force and the EAAFP.

Photo: Millions of birds are killed in Asia for food despite the hunting bans © Porchhay Taing/Birdlife

List of Members

MEMBERS OF THE TASK FORCE ON ILLEGAL KILLING, TAKING AND TRADE OF MIGRATORY BIRDS
Country	Name	Title/Affiliation
Australia	Ms. Narelle Montgomery (Chair)	Director, Migratory Species Section, Department of Climate Change, Energy, and the Environment and Water
	Mr. Mark Carey	Assistant Director, Biodiversity Conservation Division, Migratory Species Section, Department of Climate Change, Energy, and the Environment and Water
Bangladesh	Mr. Gobinda Roy	Deputy Chief, Bangladesh Forest Department
	Mr. Md. Sanaullah Patwary (Vice-Chair)	Director, Wildlife Crime Control Unit, Bangladesh Forest Department
Cambodia	Dr. Srey Sunleang	Deputy Director General, General Directorate of Natural Protected Area, Ministry of Environment, Cambodia
Indonesia	Dr. Bayu Adjie	Director, Biosystematics and Evolution Research Center, National Research and Innovation Agency
	Mr. Tri Haryoko	Researcher, Biosystematics and Evolutoin Research Center, National Research and Innovation Agency
	Mr. Mohammad Irham	Researcher, Biosystematics and Evolutoin Research Center, National Research and Innovation Agency
Lao PDR	Mr. Thevarack Phonekeo	Deputy Director-General, Department of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Mongolia	Mr. Nyambayar Batbayar	Executive Director, Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia
Papua New Guinea	Mr. Nicho Gowep	Senior Scientific Officer, Conservation and Environment Protection Agency
Philippines	Mr. Anson Tagtag	OIC Division Chief (Caves, Wetlands and Other Ecosystems Division)
Thailand	Dr. Jittinun Ruengverayudh	Director of Biodiveristy Management Division, Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Viet Nam	Mr. Nguyen Van Tai	Director, Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Agency, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
	Mr. Dung Nguyen Xuan	Deputy Director, Agency for Biodiversity Conservation, Vietnam Environment Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
	Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Anh	Head of International Development and Cooperation, Department of International Organisations

List of Observers

Observer NGOs and experts
Organisation	Name	Title
BirdLife International	Ms. Nicola Crockford	Principal Policy Officer
	Dr. Vicky Jones	Flyways Science Coordinator
	Mr. Ding Li Yong	Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator
TRAFFIC	Ms. Ling Xu	Director, TRAFFIC China
Monitor Conservation Research Society	Mr. Chris Shepherd	Executive Director
Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation	Ms. Lisa Paguntalan	Executive Director
Education for Nature - Vietnam	Mr. Douglas Hendrie	Chief Technical Advisor
Malaysian Nature Society	Ms. Rose Au	Chair
	Ms. Batrisyia Teepol	Vice-Chair
WWF Hong Kong	Mr. Xianji Wen	Director, Mai Po Nature Reserve and Flyway Programme
	Ms. Vivian Fu	Senior Manager, Asian Flyway Initiative
ECO Korea	Dr. Donguk Han	Director General
Wild Bird Society of Japan	Mr. Seiji Hayama	Manager, Conservation Division
Wetlands Internatinoal	Ward Hagemeijer	Senior Advisor, Global Office
Nature Conservation Society - Myanmar	Mr. Thura Soe Min Htike	Conservation Officer
Paulson Institute	Dr. Jianbin Shi	Advisor
WWF Asia-Pacific	Mr. Chris Hallim	Regional Lead Wildlife and Counter Wildlife Crime
Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Shanghai) Environment Protection Co. Ltd	Ms. Ziyou Yang	Member
Colorado State University	Dr. Eduardo Gallo	Assistant Professor
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand	Ms. Rongrong Angkaew	PhD Candidate
Pusat Riset Konservasi Gajah dan Biodiversitas Hutan Syiah Kuala University	Mr. Yuri Gagarin	Birds Research Division Member
Haribon Foundation	Mr. Rjay Serrano	Research Specialist
Princeton University	Dr. Dan Liang	Postdoctoral Fellow
Burung Laut Indonesia	Ms. Francisca Noni	Coordinator
Wild Heritage of Sumatra Foundation	Mr. Chairunas Adha Putra	Principal Investigator, Avifauna

Advisory Bodies
Organisation	Name	Title/Function
CMS Scientific Council	Dr. Rob P. Clay	Birds, CMS COP-Appointed Councillor
	Prof. Stephen Garnett	Birds, CMS COP-Appointed Councillor
	Ms. Narelle Montgomery (Australia)	Oceania, CMS Party-Appointed Councillor, ScC Chair
CMS Raptors MOU	Mr. Umberto Gallo Ursi	Head, Raptors MOU Coordinating Unit
CMS MIKT	Ms Clairie Papazoglou	Task Force Coordinator
AEMLAP WG	Dr. Olivier Biber	Chair
AEWA	Dr. Jacques Trouvilliez	Executive Secretary
EAAFP Technical Sub-Committee	Dr. Nick Davidson (UK)	Chair, EAAFP Technical Sub-Committee
EAAFP Task Force on Waterbirds	Dr. Srey Sunleang (Cambodia)	Chair, Task Force on Waterbirds
Ramsar	Mr. Seungho Suh	Executive Director, East Asia Regional Centre