Vulture MsAP Strategic Implementation Plan: A report on implementation to date - CMS Technical Series No. 42/Raptors MOU Technical Publication No.7

Description: 

CMS Technical Series No. 42
CMS Raptors MOU Technical Publication No. 7

The Vulture Multi-species Action Plan (Vulture MsAP) Strategic Implementation Plan was launched at CMS COP13 in 2020 and contains an inventory of activities to date that are already being undertaken, as reported through stakeholder surveys and consultations over the past two years. At the same time, the document provides a roadmap of concrete priorities for delivering the agreed framework, a signpost to relevant cooperation opportunities, and added impetus for mobilizing resources and support.
 
Overall, a vast range of projects and activities are underway in different regions and are contributing to the Vulture MsAP’s implementation (data has been recorded for 76 out 124 activities listed in the Vulture MsAP), while other proposals are being developed on a continuing basis. There is a clear emphasis on ongoing activities in research and monitoring, while activities relating to poisoning, energy infrastructure and food supply issues are also prominent. Information on belief-based use, sentinel poisoning, lead ammunition, habitat protection/management, disturbance and persecution appear less frequently. Of the actions identified in the Vulture MsAP as ‘essential’ or ‘critical’ priorities, fewer have been reported so far on those that involve government-level actions for legislation, policy and regulation than those involving field or community-based action. In terms of geographical differences, Africa and Europe have proportionately more activities underway or planned than other regions.
 
Important gaps in implementation include the need for a fully functioning framework to coordinate the Vulture MsAP’s implementation internationally, and to ensure that this is maintained over the life of the Plan. As time goes on, the lack of sufficient coordination capacity may become an increasingly limiting factor on what can be achieved, given the strategic scale of the agenda at stake. Linked to this is the need to develop and implement a strategy for securing the funding and other resources needed for implementing the plan. If you wish to provide funding to realize the implementation plan, or parts of it, please contact the Coordinating Unit of the Raptors MOU.

A prominent component of forward planning of initiatives to deliver the Vulture MsAP comprises the 11 flagship projects listed below, which were defined during a special session of the Summit for the Flyways in April 2018. The concepts for these are summarised below, drawing on information consolidated from the Summit process as well as correspondence and consultations held subsequently. No dedicated budget-line for implementing the Action Plan as a whole has been created under CMS or the Raptors MOU, and delivery is currently totally dependent on voluntary contributions of funding or in-kind support from governments, NGOs and other donors. The portfolio of projects is therefore conceived as an efficient way of capturing an authoritative consensus about priorities and offering a well worked-out set of options for ready engagement. The total cost of implementing the full suite of 11 projects was estimated in early 2018 at approximately USD 9 million. As a package, the flagships have been designed to cover a span of activities that touches on the full taxonomic, geographical and issue-defined scope of the Vulture MsAP, but depending on the nature of support that may be offered in any given case, they may be pursued either in combination or as selfcontained individual projects. 

  1. Developing rapid response systems to stop vulture poisoning
  2. Combatting the trade in threatened vultures and their parts for belief-based use
  3. Conservation of the Egyptian Vulture along the Western and Eastern Flyways
  4. Converting the Vulture MsAP into an interactive online tool
  5. Evaluating the Total Economic Value of Old World Vultures and determining their role in sustainable futures
  6. Creating a Vulture MsAP communications toolkit
  7. Guidance on developing national (or regional) Vulture Conservation Strategies
  8. Safety testing veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on vultures
  9. Establishing an international framework for coordination
  10. Sensitivity mapping of energy infrastructure
  11. Guidance on establishing Vulture Safe Zones

More information on the rationale, objectives, expected results and estimated budget of each flagship project is available in the document Vulture Multi-species Action Plan (Vulture MsAP) Strategic Implementation Plan below (starting on page 35).

Learn more about vultures, the activities of the Vulture MsAP Steering Group and the development of the Vulture MsAP here.




Author(s)David Pritchard
Published DateFebruary 2020
PublisherCoordinating Unit of the Raptors MoU
TypeTechnical Series
CMS InstrumentBirds of Prey (Raptors)