The ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) was held from 1-5 December 2008, in Rome, Italy.

COP 9 was preceded by several associated meetings from 27-30 November: the first Meeting of the Parties (MOP1) to the Gorilla Agreement; the seventh UN Environment Programme (UNEP)/Global Environment Facility (GEF) Siberian Crane Wetlands Project Steering Committee meeting; the 34th CMS Standing Committee meeting; and the Aridland Mammals meeting.
Delegates considered CMS COP 9 to be a successful meeting, touching upon a range of institutional, key policy and species conservation issues. The meeting adopted 17 resolutions and five recommendations. It listed 11 species on Appendix I of the Convention, including three dolphin species and the West African manatee, as well as the cheetah, with the exception of the populations of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia for which quotas are in place under the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Species listed in Appendix II include the African wild dog, saiga antelope and several dolphin populations. Following intense negotiations, mako sharks, the porbeagle shark and the northern hemisphere population of the spiny dogfish were also listed on Appendix II. The proposal to list the saker falcon on Appendix I was eventually withdrawn, but a resolution was adopted that sets out the direction for future work on this species, and proposes listing it at COP 10 unless its conservation status improves significantly. Other highlights of the meeting included: the adoption of a modest but flexible core budget for the next triennium representing a 3.3% increase compared to the 2006-2008 budget; resolutions on climate change impacts on migratory species, ocean noise, by-catch and marine species; and the establishment of an intersessional process on the future shape of CMS, aiming to address a series of institutional issues.
COP 9 was followed by the second Meeting to Identify and Elaborate an Option for International Cooperation on Migratory Sharks, held from 6-8 December.
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