Highlights for Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Presenting opening remarks at the Third Meeting on International Cooperation on Migratory Sharks under the CMS (Sharks III), Arthur Yap, Secretary of Agriculture, Manuel Gerochi, Under Secretary, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Theresa Mundita Lim, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, described the Philippines’ interest in migratory shark conservation and welcomed delegates to the Philippines. Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of CMS, highlighted the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks to promote concerted action on shark conservation. She noted that the Conservation and Management Plan is expected to serve as an implementation tool for the MoU.

Delegates elected Theresa Mundita Lim (Philippines) as the Chair of Sharks III and Nigel Routh (Australia) as Vice-Chair. Delegates adopted rules of procedure and the agenda, reviewed the meeting objectives and began negotiating the draft MoU. Delegates focused discussion on the number of species to consider in the MoU. The EU, UK, Senegal, Australia and others expressed a desire to include all seven shark species currently considered under the Appendices of the CMS. Argentina, Chile, Norway and others preferred limiting inclusion to Whale Shark, Basking Shark and Great White Shark. Delegates agreed to establish a working group on the species to be included in the MoU.

Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity resources
Provisional Agenda of SHARKS III
Meeting Documents
Meeting Documents from SHARKS II

IISD RS resources
IISD RS coverage of SHARKS II, 6-8 December 2008, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters, Rome, Italy
IISD RS coverage of the Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) to the CMS, 1-5 December 2008, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy
IISD RS coverage of the Fourth Meeting of the Parties (MOP-4) to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), 15-19 September 2008, Antananarivo, Madagascar
IISD RS coverage of the First Meeting to Identify and Elaborate an Option for International Cooperation on Migratory Sharks, 11-13 December 2007, Mahé, Seychelles
IISD RS coverage of CMS COP 8, 20-25 November 2005, Nairobi, Kenya
IISD RS coverage of CMS COP 7 and AEWA MOP-2, 25-27 September 2002, Bonn, Germany
IISD RS coverage of CMS COP 6, 4-16 November 1999, Cape Town, South Africa
IISD RS archive of meetings on biodiversity, and backgrounder
Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news
MEA Bulletin - Newsletter on key MEAs and their secretariats
Climate Change Policy & Practice - News and information on the actions of international organizations in responding to the problem of global climate change
African Regional Coverage