Decisions 12.75 to 12.77 - Conservation Implications of Animal Culture and Social Complexity

Subject to the availability of resources, the Expert Group is requested to:

a) Develop a workplan to take this work forward, using the case studies appended to the full report contained in UNEP/CMS/COP12/Inf.14 as a basis for identifying and developing further case studies for CMS-listed species;

b) Develop a list of priority species listed on the CMS Appendices for a comprehensive investigation of culture and social structure and commence more detailed analysis as appropriate, including for example developing a list of key factors that should be taken into consideration for effective conservation;

c) Using the model developed by Whitehead and Rendell at the 2014 workshop (see UNEP/CMS/COP11/Inf.18), develop a taxonomy of culture across other taxa of relevance to CMS to assist in determining priority species for case studies;

d) Make recommendations to the Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council preceding the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, based on the evidence presented in the case studies appended to UNEP/CMS/COP12/Inf.14.

The Secretariat should, subject to the availability of resources, convene a workshop to assist the Expert Working Group on Culture and Social Complexity to: 

a) Develop a list of key factors for identifying priority species and populations listed under CMS where social learning may influence their conservation;

b) Explore the opportunities for engagement across the CMS daughter agreements. 

The Scientific Council should, subject to the availability of resources, consider the outputs of the Expert Group on Culture and Social Complexity and make recommendations to the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, based on its findings. 

Parties are requested to: a) liaise with the chair and vice-chair of the Expert Working Group on Animal Culture and Social Complexity regarding the development of concerted actions for species or populations identified as priorities; b) submit to the Secretariat for transmission to the Expert Working Group on Animal Culture and Social Complexity information on any assessments of anthropogenic threats to socially complex mammalian species on the basis of evidence of interactions of those threats with social structure and culture, as well as any publications of pertinent data for advancing the conservation management of these populations and discrete social groups; c) support the implementation of these Decisions with voluntary contributions.

The Expert Group is requested to: a) progress work on the development of a management tool at a workshop proposed for 2020, with the specific task of testing the tool on the CMS Appendices and identifying priority species and social groups; b) continue further development of case studies so that these can be brought forward at the 2020 workshop to inform this process; c) once key priority species have been established, develop a more comprehensive workplan beyond 2020, which should include: i. Identification of case studies relevant to CMS; ii. Development of robust criteria and a management tool for prioritizing species and social groups on the CMS Appendices; iii. Development of any relevant concerted actions arising from the prioritization process; iv. Identification of key daughter agreements which might benefit from dissemination of this work; d) make recommendations to the Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council preceding the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP14).

The Secretariat shall: a) request Parties to submit about 18 months before COP14 information on any assessments of anthropogenic threats to socially complex mammalian species on the basis of evidence of interactions of those threats with social structure and culture, as well as any publications of pertinent data for advancing the conservation management of these populations and discrete social groups for transmission to the Expert Working Group on Animal Culture and Social Complexity; b) subject to the availability of resources, convene a workshop to assist the Expert Working Group on Animal Culture and Social Complexity with identifying priority species and populations on the CMS Appendices and specifically to provide advice to Parties on rapid assessment techniques and how to augment existing conservation efforts using insights on aspects of sociality.

The Scientific Council should: a) invite newly appointed Councillors that have relevant expertise to engage in the Expert Working Group on Animal Culture and Social Complexity; b) consider the outputs of the Expert Working Group on Animal Culture and Social Complexity and make recommendations to COP14, based on its findings.