Adeje,Tenerife/Spain, 20 October - During the West African Talks on Cetaceans and Their Habitats (WATCH), held from 16 – 20 in Tenerife, Spain, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) has created the framework for a major agreement on small cetaceans under its umbrella.

The agreement area stretches from Morocco to South Africa, and covers the waters rich in whales around the Macaronesia Islands in the Eastern Atlantic. A specific declaration on cetaceans in the archipelagos, developed by the Macaronesia group, was endorsed by the plenary during the meeting.

 

CMS Executive Secretary Robert Hepworth said: “After the conclusion of the agreement on cetaceans in the South Pacific in September 2006, this is another milestone in the conservation of dolphins and small whales across an extended range. It is a tangible achievement of the Year of the Dolphin with support from Spain and in particular Canary Islands, the range states, donors, UNESCO, NGOs and the scientific community. WDCS and the travel group TUI, both founding partners of the Year of the Dolphin provided scientific expertise and respectively logistic support, thus contributing to this success story.“

 

A preliminary text of the agreement was developed and discussed during the meeting. In working groups, delegates also elaborated and improved draft Action Plans for Small Whales and for Manatees under the agreement. The Action Plans provides for regional and

international collaboration with an ecoystem approach as well as legislation and policy to implement conservation. Reducing bycatch and the impact of fisheries will be crucial components of the Action Plan. Eventually, limited hunting should lead to a recovery of populations of these marine mammals.

 

The CMS Secretariat will now submit revised texts of the agreement and the Action Plans to all range states. The objective is a follow up meeting in 2008 to conclude the new agreement and its twin action plans. There was a common understanding between delegates that a Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans and Manatees of Western Africa and Macaronesia had to be swiftly finalized under the auspices of CMS.

 

Up to 100 delegates attended the WATCH scientific and negotiating sessions with scientists and regulators/authorities, in particular from West Africa, Spain and Portugal with the Azores and Madeira. Results of latest / most recent scientific findings as well as in-depth information exchange between leading marine biologists triggered a new round in international cetacean conservation policy.