The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals

Migration is a natural phenomenon by which individuals of a given species move between areas which they inhabit at different times of the year. Migratory species of animals are, on average, more at risk of becoming endangered than non-migratory species, because their requirements are greater; not only do they need good habitat for reproduction but also during their non-breeding and all along their migratory routes. In an ever-changing world, human pressure is high on some of those habitats, and also often on the animals themselves (hunting, incidental catch etc). To conserve species whose movements regularly cross national borders, international cooperation is of vital importance.

 

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention or CMS) was adopted in Bonn, Germany in 1979 and came into force in 1985. Contracting Parties work together to conserve migratory species and their habitats by providing strict protection for endangered migratory species (listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention), concluding multilateral Agreements for the conservation and management of migratory species which require or would benefit from international cooperation (listed in Appendix 2), and by undertaking co-operative research activities.

 

The European Community is a party to CMS. In general it undertakes activities under the Convention involving issues where the Community has 'competence' (the authority to act as a Community rather than as the member states individually, or collectively as the Union). Thus the Community is a Party to the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS) as this agreement has significant relevance to fishing activities, over which the Community has authority within the Union.

 

The UK ratified the Convention in 1985. The legal requirement for the strict protection of Appendix I species is provided by the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981 and as amended). The UK has currently ratified three legally binding Agreements under the Convention: the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS); the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA); and ASCOBANS. An Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels is currently in the process of being ratified; as of May 2002, eight countries including the UK had so far signed, and the Agreement will enter into force after five countries have ratified. The UK has also ratified the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia, in respect of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

 

JNCC provides scientific and technical advice to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the country agencies on the development and implementation of the Convention and its daughter agreements. This involves advising on the appropriateness of protection proposals, undertaking and having input to the research work of the Convention, working with partners on implementation in the UK, and advising on policies that would be in line with the aims of the Convention.