United Nations and Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi enhance international cooperation for migratory species of wild animals

The Convention on Migratory Species ,CMS, administered by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, and Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, EAD, have agreed to extend their arrangement by which an office for the convention was established in Abu Dhabi in 2009. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary-General of EAD and Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of CMS, signed the agreement in Abu Dhabi and Quito, respectively, as part of the Eleventh Meeting of the Convention’s Conference of the Parties (CMS COP11) taking place in Ecuador from 4th- 9th November. The original agreement was signed in October 2009 following an offer by EAD on behalf of the Government of the United Arab Emirates to host an office of the CMS Secretariat in Abu Dhabi. The office has been located at EAD Headquarters ever since. Many migratory species of interest to the UAE are also the focus of the Convention. CMS Office - Abu Dhabi coordinates activities to address common threats to migratory species of national and regional importance including birds, marine mammals and marine turtles. CMS Office - Abu Dhabi is the largest presence of the CMS Secretariat outside its seat in Bonn. It provides two secretariats which coordinate the implementation of the CMS Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs and the CMS MoU on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia. The two MoUs were adopted in Abu Dhabi in October 2007 and in October 2008. The UAE has signed both international agreements along with 62 other countries and the European Union. Mr. Chambers said, "The Arabian Gulf hosts one of the world’s largest and most significant populations of dugongs, with the greatest numbers found in the waters off the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This population is shared with Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The UAE is also part of the range for 42 of the 76 species of African-Eurasian migratory birds of prey under the Raptors MoU, including the endangered Saker Falcon, Sooty Falcon and the Egyptian Vulture." Al Mubarak added, "The two CMS agreements support the conservation activities of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, and provide a platform for the nation to co-operate both regionally and globally with other countries that share these migratory animals as they pass through our marine and terrestrial environments at different times of the year." Lyle Glowka, Executive Coordinator of CMS Office - Abu Dhabi, noted that the Office represents a major collaboration between the Convention on Migratory Species, the United Nations Environment Programme, and EAD on behalf of the United Arab Emirates to conserve migratory species for the benefit of present and future generations. "The Office serves 147 countries across Africa, Europe, Central, Western and Southern Asia and the Western Pacific regions", he said, adding, "EAD’s investment has been critical to our mission of promoting international cooperation across the vast range of the migratory animals we work on, and is one of the many ways the UAE has demonstrated its global leadership on migratory species conservation." - Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395271973677.html