Visit the CMS Gorilla Agreement website
The Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and Their Habitats, also known as the Gorilla Agreement, is a Multilateral Environmental Agreement covering all ten gorilla Range States.
Many gorilla populations are transboundary, and therefore much of the success of conservation efforts depends on transnational cooperation and coordination. With these needs in mind, the Gorilla Agreement was developed under the auspices of CMS and has been in force since the First Meeting of Parties in Rome, Italy in November 2008.
The Gorilla Agreement provides governments, IGOs, NGOs, scientists, local people and the international community at large with a legally-binding framework to maintain and restore gorilla populations and their habitats. The Agreement is administered by the CMS Secretariat on an interim basis. The Secretariat works closely with the UNEP Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and also benefits from partnerships with other organizations, including CITES and the Primate Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC).
For a short summary of the current status of the Gorilla Agreement click here
Both species of gorilla, the Western and Eastern Gorilla, are listed under CMS, each with two subspecies:
· The Western Lowland gorilla, Gorilla gorilla gorilla
· Cross River gorilla, Gorilla gorilla diehli
· Eastern Lowland gorilla, Gorilla beringei graueri
· Mountain gorilla, Gorilla beringei beringei
The Agreement area covers all ten Range States (Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda). Currently, seven countries have become a Contracting Party to the Agreement. The Gorilla Agreement allows for coordinated and concerted action to be taken by the Range States throughout the transboundary range of the four gorilla subspecies.
The Agreement has two main bodies: the Meeting of the Parties (MOP), the decision-making body, and the Technical Committee (TC), responsible for providing advice to the decision-making body and the Secretariat on scientific matters and priorities for research and conservation. The UNEP/CMS Secretariat supports the Parties and services the bodies of the Agreement on an interim basis.
The core activities carried out under the Gorilla Agreement are described in its Action Plans, which are legally binding for all countries that have signed the Agreement.
The four gorilla subspecies vary considerably in terms of threats and conservation needs, therefore individual Action Plans are available under the Gorilla Agreement for each of them. As new Action Plans become available from the international scientific community, such as IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, they will be tabled for adoption by the Parties to the Agreement.
As per Resolution 3.1 of the Third Meeting of the Parties (MOP3) held in Entebbe, Uganda in June 2019, Parties implement the Gorilla Agreement through the four sub-species Action Plans:
Key objectives of the Action Plans include:
Where Parties require assistance to put into place national legislation to implement the Gorilla Agreement and to integrate activities into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, the Interim Secretariat stands ready to assist.
Title | Status | Status date | CMS Party number | Region |
---|---|---|---|---|
Angola | Party | 2021 | 099 | Africa |
Cameroon | Range State | 001 | Africa | |
Central African Republic | Party | 128 | Africa | |
Congo (Brazzaville) | Party | 066 | Africa | |
Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) | Party | 034 | Africa | |
Equatorial Guinea | Range State | 2019 | 114 | Africa |
Gabon | Party | 2008 | 109 | Africa |
Nigeria | Party | 022 | Africa | |
Rwanda | Party | 090 | Africa | |
Uganda | Party | 2014 | 068 | Africa |
Instrument name | Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and their Habitats |
---|---|
Type | Article IV(3) |
Languages | English French |
Depositary | CMS Secretariat |
Signature | Opened for signature at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris, France, until 25 April 2008 Signed by 5 Range States: Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda |
Website URL | http://www.cms.int/gorilla |
Scientific name | Common name | Class | Order | Family | Appendix (App. I / App. II) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gorilla gorilla diehli | Cross River Gorilla | Mammalia | Primates | Hominidae | - / - |
Gorilla gorilla gorilla | Western Lowland Gorilla | Mammalia | Primates | Hominidae | - / - |
Gorilla beringei beringei | Mountain Gorilla | Mammalia | Primates | Hominidae | - / - |
Gorilla beringei graueri | Eastern Lowland Gorilla | Mammalia | Primates | Hominidae | - / - |
Gorilla gorilla | Western Gorilla | Mammalia | Primates | Hominidae | 2005 / - |
Gorilla beringei | Eastern Gorilla | Mammalia | Primates | Hominidae | 1979 / - |
Title | Start date | Country | CMS Instrument |
---|---|---|---|
1st Meeting of Parties | 29.11.2008 | Italy | Gorilla Agreement |
1st Meeting of the Technical Committee | 29.03.2011 | Rwanda | Gorilla Agreement |
2nd Meeting of Parties | 26.11.2011 | Norway | Gorilla Agreement |
Ad-hoc Meeting of the Gorilla Agreement | 11.06.2009 | Germany | Gorilla Agreement |
Fourth Meeting of the Parties of the Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and Their Habitats (GA MOP4) | 11.12.2023 | France | Gorilla Agreement |
Frankfurt Symposium on Gorillas | 09.06.2009 | Germany | Gorilla Agreement |
Meeting to Negotiate an Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and Their Habitats | 22.10.2007 | France | Gorilla Agreement |
Fourth Meeting of the Parties of the Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and Their Habitats (GA MOP4) | 11.12.2023 | France | Gorilla Agreement |
Publication | Publisher | Type | Published Date |
---|---|---|---|
CMS Family Album | UNEP/CMS Secretariat | Leaflets & Brochures | 08 2011 |
Convention on Migratory Species - Brochure | UNEP/CMS Secretariat | Leaflets & Brochures | 2008 |
Gorilla - Status and Perspectives - TS No. 17 | UNEP/CMS Secretariat | Technical Series | 11 2008 |
Legal Assessment of the implementation of the Convention on Migratory Species and the Gorilla Agreement in Cameroon and Nigeria | CMS Secretariat | Legal Study | 11 2021 |
Living Planet: Connected Planet - Preventing the End of the World´s Wildlife Migrations through Ecological Networks | UNEP, GRID-Arendal. | Leaflets & Brochures |
Document Number | Title | Publish date | CMS Instrument |
---|---|---|---|
UNEP/GA/MOP4/NR.01 | Angola National Report - MOP4 | 05.12.2023 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.2 Annex | Cameroon (Annex) | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.1 | Cameroon (First Report) | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.2 | Cameroon (Second Report) | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.3 | Central African Republic | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/GA/MOP4/NR.02 | Central African Republic National Report - MOP4 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/GA/MOP4/NR.03 | Congo National Report - MOP4 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.5 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.6 | Equatorial Guinea | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/GA/MOP3/Inf.2.3 | National Report by the Government of Cameroon on the Implementation of Actions Plans | 17.06.2019 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/GA/MOP3/Inf.2.2 | National Report by the Government of Central Africa on the Implementation of Actions Plans | 17.06.2019 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/GA/MOP3/Inf.2.1/Rev.1 | National Report by the Government of Nigeria on the Implementation of Action Plans | 13.06.2019 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/GA/MOP3/Inf.2.4 | National Report by the Government of Uganda on the Implementation of Actions Plans | 17.06.2019 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/GA/MOP2/Inf.1.3 | National Report from Equatorial Guinea (Spanish only) | 16.11.2011 | Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/GA/MOP2/Inf.1.4 | National Report from Gabon (English only) | 24.11.2011 | Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/GA/MOP2/Inf.1.2 | National Report from the Republic of Rwanda (English only) | 09.11.2011 | Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/GA/MOP2/Inf.1.1 | National Report from the Republic of the Congo (French only) | 26.11.2011 | Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.7 | Nigeria | 01.03.2011 | Gorilla Agreement |
UNEP/GA/MOP4/NR.06 | Nigeria National Report - MOP4 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.4 | Republic of the Congo | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.8 | Rwanda | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/GA/MOP4/NR.07 | Rwanda National Report - MOP4 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/CMS/GOR-TC1/NR.9 | Uganda | Gorilla Agreement | |
UNEP/GA/MOP4/NR.08 | Uganda National Report - MOP4 | CMS, Gorilla Agreement |