WORLD PARKS CONGRESS 2003
Pact on migratory species
16 September 2003
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) have signed a landmark agreement to strengthen the conservation of hundreds of migratory species - ranging from the Siberian crane to the Mediterranean monk seal - around the world.
The agreement, signed at the fifth World Parks Congress in Durban on Monday, builds on many areas of collaboration and provides a framework that will make the ICUN's contribution to the implementation of the convention more effective.
At the centre of the agreement are trans-boundary issues such as the creation of protected corridors to help the free movement of migratory species.
Several agreements have been developed under the auspices of the CMS, such as those aiming to conserve bats in Europe, cetaceans of the Mediterranean and Black seas, African-Eurasian migratory waterbirds, the Siberian crane and the slender curlew and marine turtles.
The CMS - also known as the Bonn Convention - was created in 1979 to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is one of a number of intergovernmental treaties concerned with the conservation of
wildlife and habitats on a global scale.
The Convention currently has 84 Parties from Africa, Central and South America, Europe and Oceania.. CMS parties work together to conserve migratory species and their habitats by providing strict protection for the endangered species
listed in the Convention, including the Siberian crane, white tailed eagle, hawksbill turtle, Mediterranean monk seal and Dama gazelle.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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