Skip to main content

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

Migratory Species are those animals that travel from one place to another because of various factors such as food, sunlight, climate and temperature etc. The movement between habitats can sometimes go beyond thousands of miles/Km for some migratory birds and animals. A migratory route can involve nesting and also requires the availability of habitats before and after each migration.


In order to safeguard the migratory species all through their range countries, a convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) was signed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the year 1979 in Germany, also known as the Bonn Convention. It entered into force on 1st November 1983. It is the only international environmental treaty that provides a platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory species and their habitats. CMS is established utterly for the conservation and management of terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range. The main purpose of the convention is to specify the duty of States to safeguard the species (you may also interested in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES)) living within or passing through their national boundaries/ jurisdiction.

CMS acts as a framework Convention. The agreements may range from legally binding treaties to less formal instruments, such as Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), and can be adapted to the requirements of particular regions.

Structure

 

 

 

Classification

Under the convention migratory species are classified into two categories

Appendix I includes migratory species which are endangered or in danger of extinction.

Appendix II lists migratory species that requires or would significantly need international cooperation. .

Conference of Parties

The Conference of parties is the decision making authority of the convention and currently there are 130 parties to the convention, Maldives being the latest one to join it (As of November 2019).

CMS- COP 13

India is the host for the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species for the next three years till 2023, and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change hosted COP 13 to the convention at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from !7th-22nd February 2020 on behalf of India. “Migratory species connect the planet and we welcome them home.” was the theme for this year. The logo was inspired by ‘Kolam’ a southern Indian traditional art form which depicts key migratory species in India like Amur falcon, humpback whale and marine turtles. The mascot for CMS COP13, “Gibi - The Great Indian Bustard” is a critically endangered species that has been conferred the highest protection status under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

COP 13 proposed to include 10 new species for protection under CMS out of which three are Indians: Asian Elephant, Bengal Florican and Great Indian Bustard.


India and CMS

India is the party or signatory to the convention since 1983, and also has retained some non-legally binding MoU with CMS on the conservation and management of Siberian Cranes (1998), Marine Turtles (2007), Dugongs (2008) and Raptors (2016).

As per Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India is a temporary home to numerous migratory animals and birds. The important ones are Amur Falcons, Bar-headed Geese, Black-necked cranes, Marine turtles, Dugongs, Humpbacked Whales, etc. The Indian sub-continent is also part of the major bird flyway network, i.e, the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) which covers areas between the Arctic and Indian Oceans, and covers at least 279 populations of 182 migratory water-bird species, including 29 globally threatened species. India has also launched the National Action Plan for the conservation of migratory species under the Central Asian Flyway”.

World Migratory Bird Day

Every year, on May 9 the United Nations Environment Programme celebrates the World Migratory Bird Day since 2006. It is celebrated to create awareness about the essence to conserve migratory birds and their habitats. This year it was celebrated with the theme of “Birds Connect our World”

 

Thank you for reading this article, you can share your feedback in the comments section. You can also suggest the topics on which you want our analysis.

Please like and subscribe to this post for up-to-dated information on world affairs.

Follow our facebook page for more such articles at:- https://www.facebook.com/thecivilanalyst

 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Biodegradable Golf Balls: Eco-friendly Solution for every Golfer

Did you know that every year thousands of golf balls are lost in our planet's waterways? This probably does not surprise anyone who plays golf. What harm could a little golf ball do anyways? Well, new studies are coming to light that the little golf ball is a big problem. As they break down they release their contents into the ecosystem. A modern golf ball is made from the following: thermoplastics, zinc oxide, zinc acrylate, benzoyl peroxide, heavy metals, polybutadiene, and other secret combinations of exotic materials not disclosed by the manufacturer. These are not good for the planet! Don't forget about the plastic portion of the ball either. As it breaks down the plastic turns into microplastics. From the deepest depths of the ocean to the snow of the Artic microplastics have been found by pollution researchers to invade every corner of our planet. The size of the current microplastic pollution problem is huge! Estimates are between 15 trillion and 51 trillion microplasti...
2 comments
Read more

Urban Sprawl: An Emerging Issue

  Humans are becoming an increasingly urban species. They want to move to metropolitan cities and urban centres for better jobs opportunities or for the excitement of the city life. And this possess a really challenging developmental question of where are all these people going to go and if you live in a city, you might have noticed the expansion and the development of cities to suburbs and this is what we call urban sprawl. In 1937, Earle Draper - one of the first city planners in the south-eastern United States coined the term ‘sprawl.’ The urban sprawl is essentially the geographical expansion of a city or town and is often characterised as low density development, meaning housing is being built on really large land areas or scattered land locks, single use zoning and is also characterised by the increased reliance on private automobiles for each person transportation. The sprawl generally takes place in radial course around the city centre or in linear direction along the highw...
3 comments
Read more

Green Tax for a Greener Society

  Recently, Tesla has launched their electric cars in the Indian market. Though there has been a mixed reaction by the Indian consumers because of the price of the cars and lack of charging facilities. It is expected that Tesla will find it difficult to compete with the Diesel and Petrol variants as well as Indian electric car manufacturers. Talking about electric cars in order to curb environmental pollution and encourage people to switch to eco-friendly transportation mode, the Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways of India has approved a proposal to levy a ‘Green Tax’ on old vehicles. Experts argues that, charging taxes on vehicles that cause environmental pollution will decrease environmental loss in a cost effective manner by encouraging behavioural changes among people. The Green Tax can be seen as a measure to strengthen India’s commitment to the Paris Agreement of 2015. As per the agreement India has targeted to reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33...
Post a Comment
Read more