14 May 2012: The Secretariats of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the opening day of the fifth session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP 5) of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA).

AEWA MOP 5 opened on 14 May 2012, in La Rochelle, France, under the theme, “Migratory waterbirds and people – sharing wetlands.”

The CMS-Ramsar MoU will provide the basis for the development of a Joint Work Plan (JWP) for 2012-2014 between the two Secretariats and also between the Ramsar Secretariat and the Secretariats of other CMS instruments, where applicable. The development of the JWP was endorsed at the 38th meeting of the CMS Standing Committee before the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to CMS in November 2011. Ramsar COP 11 also is expected to approve it.

Marco Barbieri, Acting Executive Secretary of AEWA, introduced the signing of the MoU. Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, Ramsar, noted the new agreement would “update, renew and refocus” their existing collaboration, and Bert Lenten, CMS Deputy Executive Secretary, committed to ongoing cooperation, noting the importance of wetlands for not only waterbirds but also other migratory species addressed by CMS.

The AEWA Secretariat is also in the process of finalizing a JWP with Ramsar for the current triennium. The EUROBATS Secretariat is expected to do the same. [CMS Press Release] [IIS RS Coverage of AEWA MoP]