The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has announced that several member States signed CMS agreements related to dugong and Pacific cetaceans conservation.
October 2010: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has announced that four of its member States have recently signed agreements concluded under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
SPREP announced that Palau and Vanuatu have become the final two Pacific dugong range States to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs and their Habitats throughout their Range (Dugong MOU). SPREP thus confirms that all SPREP members that are dugong range States have now signed the Dugong MOU.
In addition, SPREP announced that Tonga and Tuvalu have signed the CMS MOU to protect cetaceans in the Pacific Islands Region (Pacific Cetaceans MOU). The signing took place during the 21st SPREP Annual Meeting held in Madang, Papua New Guinea, from 6-10 September 2010. Signatories to the the Pacific Cetaceans MOU now include a total of 13 SPREP members. [SPREP press release on Dugong MOU] [SPREP press release on Pacific Cetaceans MOU]