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CMS African-Eurasian Migratory Landbirds Working Group Meeting Focuses on West Africa
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CMS Participates in WCS/IUCN Cross River Gorilla Strategic Planning Workshop
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CMS participated in the Cross River Gorilla strategic planning workshop, which was organized by WCS, and held under the auspices of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group.
At the workshop, the elements for a new five-year action plan to protect the approximately 250 remaining specimens of this sub-species found only in the border region between Cameroon and Nigeria.
28 February 2012: The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Agreements Officer, Melanie Virtue, participated in the Cross River Gorilla strategic planning workshop, which was organized by The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and held under the auspices of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Primate Specialist Group.
The workshop, which took place from 22-24 February 2012, in Limbe, Cameroon, brought together government officials from Nigeria and Cameroon, and representatives from WCS, other international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as the US Fish and Wildlife Services, and GIZ. Participants reviewed progress on the conservation of the Cross River Gorilla, and developed the elements for a new five-year action plan to protect the approximately 250 remaining specimens of this sub-species found only in the border region between Cameroon and Nigeria. Once finalized, the plan will become the official Action Plan of the CMS Gorilla Agreement, as agreed at its second Meeting of the Parties, held in November 2011.
The Cross River Gorilla is an elusive species that lives in the inaccessible rugged and mountainous terrain of the border region. Evidence of their presence comes from secondary signs, such as dung or night nests. At the heart of the conservation strategy are the Gorilla Guardians and Transboundary cooperation initiatives, supported by CMS, in partnership with the UN Environment Programme Great Apes Survival Partnership (UNEP GRASP). The Gorilla Guardians are villagers empowered to inform their peers about the gorillas and the threats they face, and encourage local people to change their behavior to reduce these threats. Under the transboundary cooperation initiative, Cameroon and Nigeria are working on a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries. [CMS Press Release]