GANDHINAGAR: The Gandhinagar declaration was adopted by the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) at the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) convention, which concluded here on Saturday.
The CMS is an environmental treaty of the United Nations, which requires the countries to promote ecological connectivity and functionality, international cooperation and conservation of migratory species.
A total of 10 species were listed in the CMS appendices 1 and 2 while 13 species were recommended for concerted action. India had pitched for the Great Indian Bustard and the Asian elephant to be listed in appendix 1, which was accepted and it’s proposal for listing the Bengal florican was also included in appendix 2.
Other than these the other species included in appendix 1 were Antipodean Albatross and Oceanic Whitetip Shark. Species like Urial sheep, smooth Hammerhead Shark and Tope Shark were included in appendix 2. The little Bustard and Jaguar were also included in appendix I and II.
The proposals for inclusion of the Nutcracker Chimpanzees of West Africa, Giraffe and the Asian elephant, Irrawadi Dolphin, South Asian river Dolphin, Harbour Porpoise, Large tooth sawfish, small tooth sawfish, common Guitar fish, bottlenose fish and the families of Rhinobatidae and Glaucostegidae, Great Indian Bustard, Bengal Florican and Antipodean Albatross listed in the concerted actions list were also accepted.
Article 3 of the CMS proposals created by the secretariat had to share the wild trade data of the appendix 1 species, which was dropped entirely in the convention. One of the draft decisions was to study the impact of trade on the appendix 1 species, whereas the CMS is not supposed to take anything from the wild.
Various stakeholders like global representatives, nature conservation, CMS Ambassadors, conservationists and international NGOs working in the field of wildlife conservation attended the COP, whose theme was , “Migratory species connect the planet and we welcome them home”.
The governments of India, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Norway and the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi and the European Commission were named Migratory Species Champions in the CMS event.
IANS