At a second special ceremony held yesterday in the margins of the UNFCCC COP23 in Bonn, Minister Anne Désirée Ouloto of Côte d’Ivoire signed the Memoranda of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks and on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (Raptors MOU). Côte d’Ivoire thus becomes the 48th Signatory to the Sharks MOU and the 59th Signatory to the Raptors MOU.

Members of the Energy Task Force, including the CMS and AEWA Secretariats, BirdLife International, and the German Ministry for the Environment (BMUB) joined forces at the UNFCCC Bonn Climate Change Conference to raise awareness of the importance of reconciling migratory species conservation with the deployment of renewable energy and power lines globally.

The Coordinating Unit of the Raptors MOU, in collaboration with BirdLife International, Vulture Conservation Foundation and the IUCN Vulture Specialist Group, has today launched a month-long Public Consultation Exercise on the 2nd draft of a Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP).The consultation period runs until 16 April 2017.

An overarching workshop to develop a Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP) took place from 16 to 19 February in the historic city of Toledo, Spain, at the kind invitation of the Spanish Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha.

The first regional workshop to develop a Multi-species Action Plan to conserve African-Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP) took place from 18 to 21 October in Dakar, Senegal. Government representatives, partners and stakeholders met to promote international cooperation in order to halt the recent rapid population declines of vultures - one of the most endangered groups of birds on Earth.

Illegal activities, such as poaching of wild animals, are common worldwide and threaten biological diversity. Overexploitation is one of the main drivers of bird declines globally, and is the second most significant threat (after habitat loss) to migratory birds.Killed or trapped in huge numbers, some species are being driven to extinction.

“Healthy vultures, healthy people” is the title of a Green Room Event on vultures convened by BirdLife International on 25 May at 15.00 hrs in the margins of the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) taking place from 23 to 27 May in Nairobi. The UNEP Regional Office Africa, CMS, IUCN and several NGOs will participate in the event tohighlight the importance of vulture conservation to the delivery of the three pillars of sustainable development.