Target 15: The science base, information, training, awareness, understanding and technologies relating to migratory species, their habitats and migration systems, their value, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of their loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and effectively applied.
Aquatic Species
Theme 3 - Threat Reduction:
Objective 1 - Minimize the impacts of the major hazards listed below on whale and dolphin populations in the Pacific Islands region:
3.1) Collaborate to improve data and share information on fisheries / cetaceans interactions, and successful and unsuccessful tactics for mitigation.
Theme 7 - Research and Monitoring:
7.1) Establish abundance/distribution of all cetaceans in the Pacific Islands region.
7.2) Estimate key demographic parameters to help diagnose trends.
7.3) Undertake research and monitoring to identify hazards and develop hazard mitigation strategies.
7.4) Improve data collection and database management systems.
7.5) Undertake comprehensive habitat mapping.
7.6) Improve information received on stranding events in the Pacific Island Region.
► The Conservation and Management Plan of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia (IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU) includes:
Objective 1 - Reduce direct and indirect causes of marine turtle mortality:
1.1.a) Collate and organise existing data on threats to marine turtle populations;
1.1.b) Establish baseline data collection and monitoring programmes to gather information on the nature and magnitude of threats;
1.1.c) Determine those populations affected by traditional and direct harvest, incidental capture in fisheries, and other sources of mortality; and
1.3.a) Conduct socio-economic studies among communities that interact with marine turtles and their habitats.
Objective 2 - Protect, conserve and rehabilitate marine turtle habitats:
2.1.a) Identify areas of critical habitat such as migratory corridors, nesting beaches, inter-nesting and feeding areas.
Objective 3 - Improve understanding of marine turtle ecology and populations through research, monitoring and information exchange:
3.1.a) Conduct baseline studies or gather secondary information on marine turtle populations and their habitats.
3.1.b) Initiate and/or continue long-term monitoring of priority marine turtle populations in order to assess conservation status.
3.1.c) Characterise genetic identity of marine turtle populations.
3.1.d) Identify migratory routes through the use of tagging, genetic studies and/or satellite tracking.
3.1.e) Carry out studies on marine turtle population dynamics and survival rates.
3.1.f) Conduct research on the frequency and pathology of diseases of marine turtles.
3.2.a) Identify and include priority research and monitoring needs in regional and sub-regional action plans.
3.2.b) Conduct collaborative studies and monitoring on genetic identity, conservation status, migrations, and other biological and ecological aspects of marine turtles.
3.3.c) Use research results to improve management, mitigate threats and assess the efficacy of conservation activities (e.g. hatchery management practices, habitat loss, etc).
3.4.a) Standardise methods and levels of data collection and adopt or develop an agreed set of protocols for inter alia monitoring of nesting beaches, feeding ground studies, genetic sampling, and collection of mortality data.
3.4.b) Determine the most appropriate methods for information dissemination.
3.4.c) Exchange at regular intervals scientific and technical information and expertise among nations, scientific institutions, non-governmental and international organisations, in order to develop and implement best practice approaches to conservation of marine turtles and their habitats.
3.4.d) Disseminate traditional knowledge on marine turtles and their habitats for conservation and management.
3.4.e) Compile on a regular basis data on marine turtle populations of regional interest.
► The Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs (Dugon dugong) and their Habitats throughout their Range (Dugong MoU) includes:
Objective 2 – Improve our understanding of dugong through research and monitoring:
2.1) Determine the distribution and abundance of dugong populations to provide a base for future conservation efforts and actions.
2.2) Conduct research and monitoring into dugong.
2.3) Collect and analyse data that supports the identification of sources of mortality, the mitigation of threats and improved approaches to conservation practices.
Objective 3 – Protect, conserve and manage habitats for dugong:
3.1) Identify and map areas of important dugong habitat such as sea grass beds.
Objective 4 – Improve our understanding of dugong habitats through research and monitoring:
4.1) Conduct research into and monitoring of important dugong habitats.
► The Conservation and Management Plan for Marine Turtles of the Atlantic coast of Africa includes:
Objective 3 - Improve our knowledge of marine turtle populations and ecology through research, monitoring, and information exchange:
3.1) Conduct studies on marine turtles and their habitats.
3.4.4) Exchange, at regular intervals, scientific and technical information and expertise among nations, scientific institutions, and national and international NGOs to develop and use approaches based on the best practices for the conservation of marine turtles and their habitats.
► The MoU concerning the conservation of the Manatee and small cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia: Action Plan for the conservation of small cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia (WAAM) includes:
Objective 5 - Research and Monitoring:
5.1) Compile overview of existing knowledge, national species lists, specimen collections, research centres and protected areas.
5.2) Facilitate coordinated data collection to improve knowledge of abundance, distribution, migration routes, feeding and breeding areas and conservation status of small cetaceans.
5.3) Improve understanding of the causes, scope and impacts of by-catch.
5.4) Improve information received on stranding events in the western African Region.
5.5) Identify significance of and priorities for toxicological and pathological research.
5.6) Improve understanding of the effects of global environmental change on small cetaceans.
5.7) Improve understanding of un-quantified but potential threats to small cetaceans, including ship strikes, entanglement in lost fishing gear, acoustic or seismic disturbance or disease.
► The ASCOBANS Recovery Plan for Baltic Harbour Porpoises includes:
Theme 4 - Recovery Recommendations:
Objective 4 - Public Awareness:
4.4.1) Develop a comprehensive public awareness campaign, based on the elements outlined in the plan.
5) Parties are requested to provide assistance to maintain an interactive Baltic harbour porpoise website for the storage of GIS-based porpoise observation data. This web page should incorporate other existing possibilities to report sightings of harbour porpoises. The page should be designed for use throughout the Baltic region. This website may provide further opportunities for collaboration with relevant bodies such as HELCOM.
► The ASCOBANS Conservation Plan for Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena L.) in the North Sea includes:
Objective 12 - Collection and archiving of data on anthropogenic activities and development of a GIS:
12.1) To collect fundamental information on anthropogenic activities that may affect harbour porpoises in the region.
12.2) To provide information relevant to all actual and potential threats.
12.3) To obtain data on relevant anthropogenic activities in the North Sea over time in a format suitable for incorporating into a GIS (along with data from Action 7).
12.4) To review available sources of data on anthropogenic activities and determine their suitability for incorporation into a database or meta-database and GIS.
12.5) To identify information important gaps and possible ways to fill them.
► The ASCOBANS Conservation Plan for the Harbour Porpoise population in the Western Baltic, the Belt Sea and the Kattegat includes:
Objective 4 - Monitoring the status of the population:
7) Estimate trends in abundance of harbour porpoises in the Western Baltic, the Belt Sea and the Kattegat:
· Conduct synoptic absolute abundance surveys regularly.
· Identify a survey interval based on power analysis in relation to effort and statistical uncertainty.
· The surveys should be coordinated among Denmark, Germany and Sweden.The method and timing of the surveys should be comparable to previous SCANS surveys.
8) Monitor population health status, contaminant load and causes of mortality:
· Collection of a sufficient number of stranded and/or bycaught harbour porpoises annually in each country: Denmark, Germany and Sweden.
· Conduct necropsies and examine cause of death, diseases, pollutant level and fitness using standard protocols.
► The Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks; Conservation Plan includes:
Objective 2 - Information exchange:
2.4) Regularly exchange scientific and technical information and expertise among: national governments; scientific institutions; non-governmental organizations and civil society; international organizations; and the private sector in order to develop and implement best practice approaches to the conservation of sharks and their habitats.
2.6) Disseminate traditional knowledge on sharks and their habitats.
Objective 12 - Awareness raising:
12.1) Increase knowledge of the ecosystem services provided by sharks and knowledge about sharks in their marine environment.
Terrestrial Species
► The Action Plan concerning Conservation and Restoration of the Bukhara Deer includes:
Objective 3 - Enhance international co-operation:
3.1) Improve exchange of information and technical expertise.
Avian Species
► The Resolution 11.27 (Rev. COP12) Renewable Energy and Migratory Species includes:
1. Endorses the document ‘Renewable Energy Technologies and Migratory Species: Guidelines for Sustainable Deployment’ (UNEP/CMS/COP11/Doc.23.4.3.2);
2. Urges Parties and encourages non-Parties to implement these voluntary Guidelines as applicable depending on the particular circumstances of each Party, and as a minimum to:
a) apply appropriate Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) and EIA procedures, when planning the use of renewable energy technologies, avoiding existing protected areas in the broadest sense and other sites of importance tomigratory species;
b) undertake appropriate survey and monitoring both before and after deployment of renewable energy technologies to identify impacts on migratory species and their habitats in the short- and long-term, as well as to evaluate mitigationmeasures; and
c) apply appropriate cumulative impact studies to describe and understand impacts at larger scale, such as at population level or along entire migration routes (e.g., at flyways scale for birds).
3. Urges Parties to implement, as appropriate, the following priorities in their development of
renewable energy technologies:
a) wind energy: undertake careful physical planning with special attention to the mortality of birds (in particular of species that are long-lived and have low fecundity) and bats resulting from collisions with wind turbines and the increased mortality risk to cetaceans from permanently reduced auditory functions, and consider means of reducing disturbance and displacement effects on relevant species, including deploying measures such as ‘shutdown on demand’ as appropriate;
b) solar energy: avoid protected areas so as to limit further the impacts of deploying solar power plants; undertake careful planning to reduce disturbance and displacement effects on relevant species, as well as to minimize the risks of solar flux and trauma related injuries which could be a consequence of a
number of solar energy technologies;
c) ocean energy: give attention to possible impacts on migratory species of increased noise and electromagnetic field disturbance especially during construction work in coastal habitats, and injury;
► Decisions 12.81-12.82 on the Support to the Energy Task Force include Decision 12.81 directed to Parties, IGOs & NGOs, and other Stakeholders from the energy sectors:
Parties, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders from the energy sector are encouraged to consider contributing to the implementation of the Energy Task Force Work Plan, including through the provision of financial and technical assistance to support the on-going operations of the Energy Task Force.
► The Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (Raptors MoU) includes:
8.h) To this end, the Signatories will endeavour to encourage research into the biology and ecology of birds of prey, including the harmonization of research and monitoring methods and, where appropriate, the establishment of joint or cooperative research and monitoring programmes.
8.l) To this end, the Signatories will endeavour to cooperate with a view to assisting each other to implement this Memorandum of Understanding, particularly in the areas of research and monitoring.
► The MoU on the Ruddy Headed Goose includes:
5) Calls for the facilitation of scientific, technical and legal information necessary to coordinate conservation measures.
Objective 6 - To strengthen international cooperation among the countries party to the Memorandum of Understanding:
13.1) To generate an interactive system for information sharing and to systematize monitoring of migratory species.
Note: CMS Family Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines for marine noise-generating activities (http://www.wildmigration.org/consult/) are under development, to be presented for adoption to ASCOBANS MOP8, ACCOBAMS MOP6 and CMS COP12; and they will contribute to implementation actions towards this target.
Anthropogenic Impact
► The COP Resolution 12.21 (Manila 2017) Climate Change and Migratory Species includes:
5. Requests the Scientific Council and the Working Group on Climate Change to promote work to address key gaps in knowledge and future research directions, in particular through the analysis of existing long-term and large-scale datasets;
Vulnerability assessment:
• Identify and promote a standardized methodology for evaluating species’ vulnerability to climate change that includes the whole life-cycle of the species concerned. This may require the development and communication of new tools as appropriate
Monitoring and research:
• Undertake research on the status, trends, distribution and ecology of migratory species. This would include identifying knowledge gaps and may require the use and refinement of existing technologies and tools (e.g. remote sensing), the development of new ones, promotion of citizen science, and coordination / knowledge exchange to improve capacity
• Develop an understanding of migration routes, how they are changing (e.g. using existing recoveries of ringed birds and new tracking technologies) and the connectivity between populations (e.g. using genetic approaches) to identify key sites, locations and appropriate management units for particular species.
Knowledge exchange and capacity-building:
• Commission technical reviews and best-practice guidelines and encourage the publishing, sharing and distribution of periodic scientific reviews on the following topics:
- the impacts of climate change on migratory species;
- the potential for conservation management to increase the resistance, resilience and adaptation of migratory species populations to climate change;
- the impacts of anthropogenic climate change adaptation and mitigation on migratory species.
Interdisciplinary
1. Urges CMS Focal Points and Scientific Councillors to communicate and liaise regularly with the national representatives in the IPBES to ensure that the needs for research and policy guidance related to migratory species, especially those listed under CMS, are being adequately addressed by IPBES;
2. Invites IPBES to address science-policy linkages and the need for assessments, policy support, capacity building and knowledge generation relating to the conservation and sustainable use of migratory species of wild animals;
► The CMS COP Resolution 11.23 (Rev. COP12) on Conservation Implications of Animal Culture and Social Complexity includes:
2. Encourages Parties to consider culturally transmitted behaviours when determining conservation measures;
3. Also encourages Parties and other stakeholders to assess anthropogenic threats to socially complex mammalian species on the basis of evidence of interactions of those threats with social structure and culture;
4. Urges Parties to apply a precautionary approach to the management of populations for which there is evidence that influence of culture and social complexity may be a conservation issue;
5. Encourages Parties and other stakeholders to gather and publish pertinent data for advancing the conservation management of these populations and discrete social groups;
6. Requests the CMS Scientific Council to maintain an intersessional expert working group dealing with the conservation implications of culture and social complexity, with a focus on, but not limited to cetaceans;
7. Invites relevant CMS Scientific Councillors for taxa other than cetaceans to review the findings of the expert working group and engage in this expert group; and
8. Requests the expert group to report its findings and any proposals for future work through the CMS Scientific Council to each meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
► Decisions 12.75- 12.77 on Conservation Implications of Animal Culture and Social Complexity include Decision 12.75 directed to the Expert Working Group:
Subject to the availability of resources, the Expert Group is requested to:
a) Develop a workplan to take this work forward, using the case studies appended to the full report contained in UNEP/CMS/COP12/Inf.14 as a basis for identifying and developing further case studies for CMS-listed species;
b) Develop a list of priority species listed on the CMS Appendices for a comprehensive investigation of culture and social structure and commence more detailed analysis as appropriate, including for example developing a list of key factors that should be taken into consideration for effective conservation;
c) Using the model developed by Whitehead and Rendell at the 2014 workshop (see UNEP/CMS/COP11/Inf.18), develop a taxonomy of culture across other taxa of relevance to CMS to assist in determining priority species for case studies;
d) Make recommendations to the Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council preceding the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, based on the evidence presented in the case studies appended to UNEP/CMS/COP12/Inf.14.
► The CMS COP Resolution 12.26 (Manila 2017) on Improving Ways of Addressing Connectivity in the Conservation of Migratory Species, includes:
1. Urges Parties and invites others to give special attention to the issues highlighted in this Resolution when planning, implementing and evaluating actions designed to support the conservation and management of migratory species, both at national level and in the context of international cooperation, including in particular when:
(i) devising strategic conservation objectives, so that these may more often be expressed in terms of whole migration systems, and in terms of the requirements for the functioning of the migration process itself, as opposed to merely the status of populations or habitats;
(ii) identifying, prioritizing, developing and managing protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, both within and beyond areas of national jurisdiction, taking account inter alia of the need for connectivity to be a key factor in the definition of appropriate conservation management units, including at the landscape or seascape scale, and the need for actions to be addressed to the connections between places as well as to the places themselves;
(iii) strengthening and expanding ecological networks to conserve migratory species worldwide and enhancing their design and functionality in accordance with Resolutions 10.3 and 11.25;
(iv) evaluating the sufficiency and coherence of ecological networks in functional and qualitative terms as well as in terms of extent and distribution, having regard to Resolution 11.25 and to the desirability of sharing experiences and best practices on this issue;
(v) monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of the protection and management of the areas and networks referred to in the present paragraph;
4. Invites Parties, other States and relevant organizations to provide support for the longterm maintenance of large-scale databases on migratory species distributions, movements and abundance such as the European Union for Bird Ringing (EURING), Movebank, the International Waterbird Census, BirdLife International’s Seabird Tracking Database, the World Database on Key Biodiversity Areas and the UNESCO-IOC Ocean Biogeographic Information System;
5. Further invites Parties, other States and relevant organizations to provide support for the enhancement of the databases referred to in the preceding paragraph in order to address in more targeted ways a range of connectivity questions of relevance to CMS implementation as well as to engage in targeted joint analyses of animal movements and other factors using these databases in an integrated way across the marine and terrestrial realms so as to improve understanding of the biological basis of migratory species connectivity; and
Decision 12.91 directed to Parties, Parties are invited to:
a) Review the means by which the measures for addressing connectivity in the conservation of migratory species set out in Decisions of the Conference of the Parties including UNEP/CMS/Resolutions 12.7 on The Role of Ecological Networks in the Conservation of Migratory Species, 12.26 on Improving Ways of Addressing Connectivity in the Conservation of Migratory Species and others can be applied more effectively through their national laws, policies and plans and through international cooperation;
b) Support the development of the African-Eurasian Bird Migration Atlas and the proposed CMS Global Atlas of Migratory Animal Movements, as well as the further redevelopment and application of the African-Eurasian Critical Site Network tool, as contributions to the provision of a sound scientific basis for action and as contributions also to the fostering of greater public awareness concerning connectivity issues;
EUROBATS
The EUROBATS MOP Resolution 8.3 Monitoring of Daily and Seasonal Movements of Bats includes:
3. Prioritise studies to identify areas for breeding and hibernation, migration routes, stopover sites and population parameters (population sizes and trends) with the use of classical and novel methods, such as banding, radio-tagging, acoustic, genetic and isotope analyses;
5. Report information on studies in behaviour and population sizes of migratory bats, including references to published articles;
2. Support research in bat migration
4. Stimulate cross-boundary efforts in research and conservation of migratory species;
6. Increase the cooperation with bird banding centres;
The EUROBATS MOP Resolution 8.4 Wind Turbines and Bat Populations includes:
4. Encourage all stakeholders to engage in research on the best methods for impact assessment and mitigating bat mortality at turbines for mutual benefit.
9. Ensure that impact assessment procedures and post-construction monitoring are undertaken by appropriately experienced experts.
The EUROBATS MOP Resolution 8.5 Conservation and Management of Important Overground Sites for Bats includes:
3. Strongly encourages Parties and non-party Range States to identify their most important overground roosts considering the above-mentioned guidance on site selection and using the established national database.
The EUROBATS MOP Resolution 8.6 Bats and Light Pollution includes:
8. Encourage and support scientific research on the impacts of artificial light on bats.
9. Encourage all stakeholders to engage in research on the best methods for avoiding or mitigating the negative impacts of light pollution on bats.
The EUROBATS MOP Resolution 8.7 Bats and Climate Change includes:
1. Promote research into the effects of climate change on bats.
3. Monitor changes in species migration, hibernation, reproductive and range-shift patterns and consequent species interactions.
The EUROBATS MOP Resolution 8.9 Bats, Insulation and Lining Materials includes:
8. Encourage the sharing of data and good practice in relation to bats and insulation;
9. Encourage the collation of standardised bat records (for example, by setting up a database), so these are easily available to bat experts and officials.
The EUROBATS MOP Resolution 8.11 Implementation of the Conservation and Management Plan (2019 - 2022) includes:
b. With reference to Resolution 2.2 and EUROBATS Publication Series No. 5on Monitoring of Bats:
- Parties should continue to collate data on the implementation of Resolution 2.2 with special reference to species prioritised by Range States and review the methods used and the species covered;
- Parties should continue to share information on experience gained in using the methods outlined in the published Guidelines, with the intention of keeping those up-to-date and building a comprehensive dataset to be reviewed in detail in due course;
- The Advisory Committee should continue to promote the use of standardised monitoring methods and should review and update the monitoring guidelines as required;
- The Advisory Committee should continue to work towards the development of standardised pan-European monitoring and capacity building for monitoring. The importance of long-term monitoring at a pan-European level to build up good datasets on species distribution and population trends should be recognised and emphasised.
(c) With reference to Resolution 8.3:Parties should:
- prioritize studies to identify areas for breeding and hibernation, migration routes, stopover sites and population parameters (population sizes and trends) with the use of classical and novel methods, such as banding, radio-tagging, acoustic, genetic and isotope analyses;
- stimulate cross-boundary efforts in research and conservation of migratory species;
- report results of studies in behaviour and population sizes of migratory bats, including references to published articles;
- increase the cooperation with bird banding centres The Advisory Committee should collate information on above-mentioned research topics
The EUROBATS MOP Purpose-built Man-made Roosts includes:
2. Monitor existing purpose-built Bat Roosts and promote further studies on their effectiveness
The EUROBATS MOP Resolution 8.13 Insect Decline as a Threat to Bat Populations in Europe includes:
1. Encourage and support scientific research on the impact of insect decline on bat populations.
AEWA
The AEWA MOP Resolution 7.1 Adoption and Implementation of the AEWA Strategic Plan and Plan of Action for Africa for The Period Of 2019-2027 includes:
3. Further urges all AEWA Contracting Parties, and requests the AEWA Secretariat, in close consultation with the AEWA Standing and Technical Committees and other relevant stakeholders as identified by the two Plans, to identify innovative actions that can link water bird conservation with socio-economic development objectives, taking into account the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity;
The AEWA MOP Resolution 7.7 Strenghtening Monitoring Of Migratory Waterbirds includes:
5. Encourages Parties to support research that can inform and improve our understanding of drivers of population changes, with particular focus on the long-term and rapid short-term declines;
The AEWA MOP 7.8 Revision And Adoption Of Conservation Guidance includes:
7. Encourages Parties to ensure that conservation actions are informed by the most robust available evidence, including using such evidence to assess the likely effectiveness of proposed actions and, where resources allow, to evaluate the effectiveness of actions that are undertaken, including disseminating the conclusions of such actions in the most effective manner possible, such as web-based evidence depositories;
8. Urges all Contracting Parties in Africa to identify at national level, the periods of breeding and of pre-nuptial migration for all AEWA-listed species and their respective populations occurring on their territories and apply this knowledge in the context of implementation of paragraph2.1.2(a) of the AEWA Action Plan.