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CMS is a member of a suite of about half a dozen international conventions concerned with the conservation and management of biological diversity. Together with Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Convention on Migratory Species is one of a handful of “first generation” nature conservation treaties, drafted some 25-30 years ago, all with very focussed fields of application. Each of these conventions serves a particular purpose and, in terms of their stated aims, they are largely complementary to one another.

CITES, for example, is concerned with aspects of international trade in wildlife, and has been instrumental in helping to mitigate threats arising from excessive international commerce in live animals and products derived from them. Yet it has no direct jurisdiction over the harvesting of wildlife within a country. CMS, on the other hand, is expressly intended to address problems of domestic consumption of endangered wildlife and, as will be seen below, to foster international co-operation to achieve conservation objectives. Therefore, both of these conventions are needed in order to deal with all aspects of the problem at hand – one without the other will not suffice.

The taxonomic coverage of the Convention on Migratory Species is diverse, encompassing not only marine turtles, but also a wide variety of migratory birds (e.g. waterbirds and seabirds), marine mammals (e.g. small cetaceans and seals), and terrestrial mammals (e.g. ungulates, bats), to give just a few examples.

The membership of CMS currently stands at 65 contracting Parties (member States) worldwide and there are another 15-20 countries participating in special agreements concluded under the Convention’s auspices. The latter are taking advantage of the possibility under CMS for countries to participate in particular species agreements without necessarily joining the parent Convention. At present, the regions of East Asia and North America are, unfortunately, among the weakest represented in CMS.

The Convention’s implementation can be described in terms of two separate streams of activity, focussing on two lists of species. Those species included in Appendix I — some 85 at present — are considered endangered and are afforded strict protection. These include all marine turtles, except the flatback turtle (Natator depressus).

With respect to marine turtles, in particular, CMS has supported a number of small-scale project activities in various countries and regions, with a view to stimulating broader initiatives. It has, for example, co-sponsored two strategic planning/training workshops organized by IUCN - The World Conservation Union, with input from the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group. Those workshops, organized in South Africa, (1995), and India (1997), facilitated an exchange of views on priority conservation actions among managers and experts from both regions. They also afforded an opportunity for hands-on training in conservation techniques, with instruction from leading specialists in the field. Such workshops may be considered a first step in a process of sensitizing Governments to the need for regional co-operation in turtle conservation.

The Convention has also been supportive of various other project activities. Recognizing a need to stimulate conservation actions in Africa, it funded the production of the most comprehensive review to date of the status of marine turtles of the Atlantic coast of that vast continent. A first draft of the bilingual (English/French) publication “Marine Turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa” is currently being revised and expanded to include species and regional overviews, as well as recommendations on necessary conservation actions.

CMS has also made available funds to support the development of basic training and awareness materials. For example, as part of efforts to promote awareness and education in francophone countries, CMS has funded the production of French-language marine turtle identification posters. Prepared by WIDECAST, an NGO working on turtle conservation in the Caribbean, the posters have been distributed widely to countries along the Atlantic coast of Africa. CMS has also contributed funding towards the production of the long-awaited marine turtle research and management techniques manual published in late 1999.

Whilst CMS is not a funding agency per se, the Parties to the Convention have nonetheless allocated funds to be used to support small-scale projects of direct benefit to marine turtle conservation. These projects, vetted and approved by the CMS Scientific Council, have been geared towards addressing gaps in knowledge essential for managing turtle populations. By way of example, funds have been allocated for a project in Sri Lanka to assess by-catch and fisheries interactions involving olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), to sensitize local fishermen to marine turtle conservation issues, as well as to carry out a tagging programme designed to give more information about turtle movements in that part of the northern Indian Ocean.

A second project aimed at elucidating the migration patterns of Indo-Pacific marine turtles, through the study of their genetic profiles, is beginning in 1999. The project, run by the University of Queensland in Australia, will sample major rookeries of marine turtles to identify the number and distribution of separate breeding populations or “stocks” of marine turtles in the Indo-Pacific; identify genetic markers that can be used to estimate the migratory range of different stocks; and apply these markers to major harvests, by-catch and feeding grounds in the region. This, in combination with available tagging evidence, will permit estimation of which stocks may be adversely affected by human activities. In particular, the proportion of different breeding populations in various harvests, bycatch and feeding grounds will be estimated.

A third project, also focussing on the Indian Ocean region, is intended to provide readily accessible data on marine turtle nesting distribution to resource managers. The World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), based in Cambridge, UK, has developed an Internet-based Global Information System (GIS) prototype that presents information on nesting sites around the Indian Ocean. An Internet Map Server enables users to zoom in to areas of interest and to overlay nest sites with other environmental data such as protected areas, and includes an interface allowing new or revised information to be contributed. The project is using data on the Indian Ocean to test this method of information exchange and to identify the demand for extending the coverage. The prototype can be accessed via the CMS Web site .

A second stream of activities, for the much larger number of species listed in Appendix II of the Convention, is much more all-encompassing. The purpose of including a species or group of species in this second list is to encourage Parties to the Convention to conclude among themselves (and even including countries that are not members of CMS) more specialized conservation agreements that address the needs of particular species or broader taxonomic groups.

Indeed, the main tools through which the Convention is implemented are the various sub-agreements concluded under its auspices. CMS has a long history of co-ordinating the development and implementation of multilateral agreements among many countries that share migratory species and that have similar problems and objectives. It is especially relevant for species and regions where conservation activities have yet to take hold.

One of the most ambitious Agreements concluded so far under CMS focuses on waterbirds that migrate from northern Europe through to the southern tip of Africa. The so-called African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), which entered into force in November 1999, aims to address the conservation needs of about 170 species from 17 families, covering 120 countries that make up their range.

Whereas the AEWA is quite a formal legal instrument — one that took many years to develop and bring into effect — CMS also makes use of less formal, more flexible tools to achieve similar objectives. Memoranda of understanding have proved to be an effective formula for co-operation. They do away with much of the bureaucracy normally associated with legally-binding agreements that involve more significant commitment of resources. A good example of this is a Memorandum of Understanding on the Siberian Crane which serves to co-ordinate actions among ten Range States spread across Asia. Detailed objectives and actions are spelled out in a comprehensive Conservation Plan which sets realistic, measurable targets for each of the Range States. This MoU has also provided the impetus for the development of a recently-approved GEF project proposal focussing on wetland conservation in four key countries, using Siberian Cranes as a flagship species.

The Siberian Crane MoU served as a model for the development of a similar instrument for marine turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa. In May 1999, CMS organized a meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, which brought together for the first time, managers and experts from most of the Range States concerned. The five-day meeting resulted in the adoption of a basic Memorandum of Understanding on co-operation, and made good progress towards the elaboration of a comprehensive Conservation Plan, of which a first draft is under preparation. So far 12 Range States (Benin, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Togo) have signed the MoU.

In the Mediterranean, where there is already a non-binding Action Plan in place under the aegis of another regional organization, CMS has taken the lead in the organization of a pan-Mediterranean symposium on marine turtle conservation, expected to be realised in 2001. This idea, which has been well received by Governments and NGOs alike, should provide an excellent forum — especially for Europeans, Africans and others unable to attend the highly successful annual North American symposium — to discuss turtle conservation issues.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) to CMS – the Convention’s decision-making organ – met in Cape Town from 10-16 November 1999. Among other things, the COP adopted two recommendations aimed at advancing marine turtle conservation along the Atlantic coast of Africa, and in the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia region. The former offers guidance on measures to complement and complete the work initiated in Abidjan; the latter endorses a resolution arising from an intergovernmental meeting organized by Environment Australia in October 1999 calling for a new regional Agreement on marine turtles, possibly under CMS. Developments relating to both of these initiatives will be reported in future issues of the MTN.

As more is learned about the extent to which marine turtles migrate in the world’s oceans, nations with populations of these marvellous animals can look to the Convention on Migratory Species to continue to provide leadership, in keeping with the role Governments intended when it was adopted some twenty years ago.