During a series of primates meetings held in Paris, France, from 22-26 October 2007, talks on 22-24 October 2007 resulted in the finalization of the Paris Agreement on the conservation of gorillas and their habitats (the Gorilla Agreement), which aims to conserve and restore gorilla populations in Central and West Africa through an action plan covering education, research and forest protection.

The Gorilla Agreement negotiations were held under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). On 25 October, the UNEP/UNESCO Great Apes Survival Project Partnership (GRASP) organized a meeting of donors to inform potential GRASP partners about GRASP activities and to launch the GRASP Activity and Finance Plan, Plan it for the Apes. Finally, on 25-26 October, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) met to undertake technical workshops on capacity building and training, forest monitoring and private investment for forest ecosystem conservation; transfer the CBFP facilitation from the French to the German government; and sign the CMS Gorilla Agreement, the Gorilla Declaration and the Forests Now Declaration.
A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the protection of the Eastern Atlantic Populations of the Mediterranean Monk Seal was also concluded under the auspices of CMS. During the Western African Talks on Cetaceans and their Habitats (16-20 October 2007, Tenerife, Spain), Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal and Spain signed the MoU, which is open for signature to all the Atlantic range States. The meeting also discussed a preliminary text of a new agreement for the conservation of small cetaceans and manatees in the region, as well as two draft action plans for small whales and for manatees under the agreement.
Links to further information
IISD RS coverage of the meeting on the CMS Gorilla Agreement
CMS press release, 18 October 2007
CMS press release, 19 October 2007
CMS press release, 20 October 2007
CMS press release, 26 October 2007