Better protection for whales, sharks and raptors

The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals was successfully concluded in Bergen/Norway today. Several species such as the manta ray and the Argali wild sheep were added to the appendices of the Convention, and the Saker falcon and red-footed falcon were moved to the most stringent category of protection. Germany and other countries as well as the EU also signed agreements on the conservation of sharks and raptors. A fundraising gala co-organised by Germany raised six million euros for the conservation of threatened species. The meeting further adopted a resolution put forward by Germany on the protection of whales and dolphins against underwater noise.

The conference was held by the Bonn Convention, which works under the umbrella of the United Nations and has its secretariat on the UN Campus in Bonn. This Convention protects animals that regularly migrate over long distances between their breeding and feeding grounds and cross state borders in the process, e.g. migratory whales, sharks, storks, cranes, marine turtles and sturgeons.

The signing of the agreement on the conservation of sharks is part of the German government’s strategy to advocate the protection of threatened shark species in all relevant international fora. The protection regime for whales, migratory birds and sharks also includes German species. For example, the shark memorandum covers the basking shark, which can be more than ten meters long and occasionally passes by the coast of Helgoland, and the spiny dogfish and the porbeagle which are also found in the North Sea and are almost extinct.

In Bergen, Germany put forward a proposal via the European Union for a resolution on the protection of whales and dolphins against underwater noise, which was adopted by the meeting. Marine noise is caused by pile-driving for the foundations of wind turbines, for example, or by shipping traffic. This can be harmful to the hearing of whales and dolphins. The proposal which recommends the international use of noise reduction techniques was met with broad approval.

The conference also acknowledged Germany’s pioneering role in preventing electrocution of birds at power lines. In close cooperation between power companies and nature conservation organisations electricity transmission lines and towers are being made safe for birds. Naturschutzbund Deutschland (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union) presented the new German VDE application guide that was developed on the basis of nature conservation requirements to mitigate the dangers of medium-voltage power lines. RWE Rhein-Ruhr presented a programme under which markers are being placed on high-voltage power lines to allow birds to see and avoid these lines, even in bad weather.

The meeting also acknowledged the 20th anniversary of the Agreement on the Conservation of Bats in Europe, EUROBATS. The secretariat of this Agreement is also based in Bonn.

The conference showed that there is considerable global commitment to the conservation of migratory species:

• The African states which are home to gorillas living in the wild will meet immediately after the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to discuss how the survival of these apes in the wild can be secured.
• With support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) the Central Asian states are working towards the protection of the Argali wild sheep, a species similar to the mouflon.
• The US provided 100,000 dollars to advance the Agreement on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks.
• Abu Dhabi will make available several million dollars over the next few years for international conservation of raptors and dugongs in the Indo-Pacific.