ASCOBANS News
8th Meeting of the ASCOBANS Jastarnia Group Successfully Concluded
6 February 2012 – Last week, the 18 participants of the 8th ASCOBANS Jastarnia Group Meeting gathered at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany. This working group was established to take forward the implementation of the Recovery Plan for the Baltic Harbour Porpoise (also called Jastarnia Plan). Under the leadership of Karl-Hermann Kock (Germany) and Penina Blankett (Finland), who kindly stepped in as chairs on short notice, the Group considered the progress made with respect to the various recommendations of the Jastarnia Plan and agreed on action points to be forwarded to the ASCOBANS Advisory Committee. These cover topics such as bycatch reduction, research and monitoring priorities, the development of management plans for marine protected areas and public awareness. The Group also considered a draft Conservation Plan for Harbour Porpoises in the Western Baltic, Belt Seas and Kattegat, which will be proposed to AC19 (20-22 March 2012) for endorsement and subsequent adoption by the Meeting of the Parties in October 2012. The report of the meeting will become available shortly and will be published on this website.
Call for Nominations for the 4th ASCOBANS Outreach and Education Award - deadline 29 February
Bonn, 25 January 2012 - This year, ASCOBANS will for the fourth time present the Outreach and Education Award
to an individual or institution in recognition of outstanding conservation-related awareness-raising or educational
initiatives. The first ASCOBANS Award went to Hel Marine Station, Poland, in 2005. A second one was awarded to Petra
Deimer and her NGO Society for the Conservation of Marine Mammals (GSM) in 2007. In 2009, Peter Evans received the third
Award, acknowledging his role in connection with the Sea Watch Foundation and the European Cetacean Society.
Nominations for the fourth ASCOBANS Award, which is to be presented in 2012, should reach the Secretariat by 29 February 2012 and should
be accompanied by a description of the nominee’s relevant activities and a statement of support by the proponent. Please note that nominations
can be made by Parties, NGOs or others.
All nominations received by the deadline will be presented to a jury that will be formed, meet and come to a decision on the margins of
the 19th Advisory Committee (20-22 March 2012). Their decision will be based on which initiative has made the most valuable contribution
to the aims of the Agreement.
The formal presentation of the award will then take place during the 7th Meeting of Parties in October 2012.
We are looking forward to receiving your nominations! For any questions,
please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Secretariat!
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema Takes up New Assignment in Nairobi
Bonn,
6 January 2012 - CMS Executive Secretary and ASCOBANS Acting Executive
Secretary Ms Elizabeth Maruma Mrema has been appointed Deputy Director
of the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation (DEPI) at the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as of 9 January. Ms Mrema joined
the UNEP/CMS Secretariat as Officer in Charge in July 2009. At the end
of the same year, UNEP Executive Director, Mr Achim Steiner appointed
her as the new Executive Secretary of the UNEP/CMS Secretariat.
Her longstanding expertise as a senior environmental lawyer at UNEP with
a particular focus on international environmental law, compliance and
enforcement of environmental conventions proved to be a huge asset in
leading the CMS Secretariat. Building on her work at the UNEP/Division
of Environmental Law and Conventions (DELC) with a focus on Multilateral
Environmental Agreements Support and Cooperation and later as the Head
of the Biodiversity, Law and Governance Branch, Ms Mrema succeeded in
shaping CMS as a lead partner of other biodiversity related Conventions.
At both the 38th meeting of the CMS Standing Committee and the 10th Meeting
of the Conference of the Parties in Bergen Norway in November, 2011, Ms
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema informed the Parties of her intention to step down
from the position of UNEP/CMS Executive Secretary so as to take up new
functions at the Headquarters.
In a memorandum soon after, UNEP Deputy Executive Director, Ms Amina Mohamed
appointed Ms Elizabeth Maruma Mrema to continue to manage the UNEP/CMS
Secretariat from Nairobi, in an acting capacity, together with her new
functions until her successor is recruited. This arrangement will apply
equally to the management of the ASCOBANS Secretariat and the Gorilla
Agreement Interim Secretariat for which she has been serving as the Acting
Executive Secretary. The Deputy Executive Secretary of UNEP/CMS Secretariat,
Mr Bert Lenten, will manage day-to-day operations of the Secretariat in
addition to his regular responsibilities.
In line with Resolution 10.29 adopted by the CMS Parties at their November
Meetings, this interim arrangement will ensure continuity of the management
of the Secretariat after the departure of the UNEP/CMS Executive Secretary
to take up her new assignment at UNEP Headquarters.
The UNEP/CMS Secretariat wishes Ms Mrema all the best for her new responsibilities
while continuing to manage the Secretariat from a distance.
29 December 2011: Consultancy Position – Support to the ASCOBANS Secretariat in the Anniversary Year 2012 – deadline for applications 20 January 2012
2012 is a special year for ASCOBANS. Not only does the Agreement hold
its annual Advisory Committee Meeting (March 2012) and its triennial Meeting
of the Parties (October 2012), the year also marks the 20th Anniversary
of the signing of the treaty. This occasion will be commemorated by means
of a special publication as well as a series of events throughout the
Agreement Area, aimed at raising awareness. In order to support the small
Secretariat team in this busy period, a short-term consultant will be
hired.
Applicants are requested to make an offer to the Secretariat by 20 January
2012. Please refer to the Terms
of Reference for details.
Best wishes for the holidays and the year 2012 - our 20th Anniversary!
Thank you to our CMS colleagues Laura Cerasi
and Laura Aguado for the photo and design!
Call for Proposals for Project Funding through ASCOBANS – deadline 15 February
22 December 2011 – As in previous years, the ASCOBANS Secretariat expects
to be able to support a few research and conservation projects in 2012.
At the next Advisory Committee Meeting, to be
held 20-22 March 2012, Parties will make a decision on the use of any
available funds.
If you would like to apply for funding for your project through ASCOBANS,
please use this form
and return it to us in Word format. The general conditions of funding
are outlined in the document and give information on the type of project
we can support through the Agreement. The maximum sum the Agreement will
spend on any one project is 15,000 Euro. Co-funding from other institutions
is welcome. All projects should clearly outline how they would contribute
to achieving the conservation objectives of ASCOBANS.
The deadline for submission to the Secretariat is 15 February 2012.
More information on the procedure for submitting a proposal is available
here. For any questions, please contact
the ASCOBANS Secretariat.
CMS COP10 in Norway Strengthens Cetacean Conservation Worldwide
25
November 2011 – After intense negotiations over the entire week, Parties
to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
(CMS) at the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP) adopted numerous resolutions
that call for better protection of marine species, including cetaceans.
Besides decisions of an overarching nature on topics such as ecological
networks (Res.10.3) or climate change (Res.10.19), four resolutions focus
specifically on marine species.
Res.10.4, originally proposed by the Government of Australia,
highlights the negative impacts of marine debris on migratory species,
caused by ingestion, entanglement and habitat degradation. Besides a call
for the identification of hotspots where marine debris accumulates and
originates, Parties are encouraged to develop and implement their own
national plans of action to address this problem, and to report available
information on the amounts, impacts and sources of marine debris within
their waters in their national reports.
Res.10.14 deals with bycatch of CMS-listed species in
gillnet fisheries. This widely used fishing method has so far received
relatively little international attention when it comes to its impacts
on migratory species and the assessment of mitigation methods. Seeking
to fill that gap, CMS Parties are calling for national assessments of
the risk of bycatch arising from their gillnet fisheries, and urged the
implementation of best practice mitigation measures tailored to each particular
situation. Mitigation measures should be regularly reviewed in order to
evaluate their effectiveness, also bearing in mind any effects on other
taxa, and research to identify and improve them should be carried out.
Res.10.15 adopts a global programme of work for cetaceans.
The mandate to develop this work programme had come from Res.8.22 on human-induced
impacts on cetaceans. The resolution instructs the Aquatic Mammals Working
Group (AMWG) of the CMS Scientific Council to work intersessionally on
the actions requested in the work programme and to invite external experts
to participate in these activities. The detailed work programme instructs
the CMS Secretariat, the Scientific Council and in particular the AMWG
to enhance collaboration with other relevant bodies, including CMS Agreements,
to address jointly the threats identified for each region. For the North
East Atlantic Ocean, entanglement and bycatch as well as pollution and
noise pollution were weighted as high priorities.
Res.10.24 on underwater noise pollution was submitted
to the COP by the European Union following the initiative of the Government
of Germany. Building on Res.9.19 on the same subject, Parties focused
especially on the impact of new or increasing sources of underwater noise,
such as those from offshore wind farms and associated shipping. Parties
are strongly urged to keep the emission of underwater noise to the lowest
necessary level in order to prevent adverse effects on cetaceans, and
the application of Best Available Techniques (BAT) and Best Environmental
Practice (BEP) is recommended. The issue should also be integrated in
the management plans of relevant marine protected areas.
The final versions of all resolutions passed by the 10th Meeting of the
Conference of the Parties to CMS will be uploaded on the CMS
website shortly. ENB reports of the meeting can be accessed here.
31 January-2 February 2012: 8th Meeting of the Jastarnia Group, Bonn, Germany
26 October 2012 – The 8th Meeting of the ASCOBANS Jastarnia Working Group
will take place at the Secretariat’s premises in Bonn, Germany, from 31
January to 2 February 2012.
The Jastarnia Group was established to take forward the implementation
of the Recovery Plan for the Baltic Harbour Porpoise (also called Jastarnia
Plan) and includes experts from the environment and fisheries sectors
from around the Baltic Sea. Each year, the Jastarnia Group reviews new
developments and research and makes recommendations to the ASCOBANS Advisory
Committee.
At the upcoming meeting, the Jastarnia Group will also consider a draft
paper on conservation measures for harbour porpoises in the western Baltic
and Belt Sea, which is intended to close the gap between the North and
Baltic Sea action plans currently in place.
Despite international recognition of the need for strict protection of
the Baltic sub-population of the harbour porpoise, which is classified
as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, and the long-standing efforts
on its behalf under ASCOBANS, its conservation status gives reason for
grave concern.
Participants are requested to register by 13 January 2012. More information
can be requested from the ASCOBANS
Secretariat.
ASCOBANS Joins UN Day Celebrations on 22 October
24
October 2011 - The ASCOBANS Secretariat joined 18 UN Bonn-based agencies
and several other international organizations in celebrating the annual
UN Day in Bonn this weekend.
UN Day is celebrated globally to highlight the aims and achievements of
the United Nations. The day marks the anniversary of the signing of the
UN Charter on 24 October 1945 and has been observed annually in Bonn since
the city became a host city to several United Nations organizations in
1996.
With this year’s theme “8:0 for development – If not me who else?” the
UN Day focused on the personal engagement of all of us to make this a
better world and to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, which
include stopping extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental
sustainability.
Thousands of people attended this year’s festivities in the city centre
of Bonn, which took place on Bonn's central market square. Accompanied
by a colourful variety of entertainment, including music and dance performances
from around the world, visitors got the chance to find out more about
the different activities and goals of the various UN Bonn organizations
and received give-aways, such as posters, stickers and other information
material.
The ASCOBANS Secretariat shared an exhibition tent with the Convention
on Migratory Species (CMS), its other Bonn-based Agreements
AEWA and EUROBATS and several other UN Bonn organizations.
Release of “Odontocetes – The toothed whales”
24
October 2011 – For 86 per cent of all toothed whale species, entanglement
in gillnets, traps, weirs, purse seines, longlines and trawls is resulting
in an unsustainably high death toll. This is among the findings of a report
published today by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species
of Wild Animals under the UN Environment Programme (UNEP/CMS).
The report is an encyclopaedia on the 72 species of toothed whales compiled
by Professor Boris Culik of Kiel University in Germany and represents
the most recent scientific findings on the distribution, migration, behaviour
and threats to this suborder of the cetaceans, which includes sperm whales,
beaked whales, porpoises and dolphins.
The UNEP/ASCOBANS Secretariat will present a free copy of the publication
to each participant in the upcoming 19th Meeting of the Advisory Committee.
The web version of the report can be accessed here.
Click here
to read the UNEP press release.
20-22 March 2012: 19th Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Galway, Ireland
4 October 2011 – Invitations for the 19th Meeting of the ASCOBANS Advisory
Committee have been sent out. It will be held from 20-22 March 2012 at
the Galway Bay Hotel in Galway, Ireland. The registration form has been
posted on this page, where also the Provisional
Agenda and more information on the venue and travel will be made available
along with documents prepared for the meeting.
The Advisory Committee was established to facilitate the implementation
of the ASCOBANS Agreement and the decisions of the Parties by providing
advice and information to the Secretariat and the Parties between the
sessions of the Meeting of Parties (MOP). Reports of past meetings can
be accessed here.
Observers are usually welcome to attend these meetings. Those interested
are required to inform the Secretariat in writing of their intention to
participate no later than 20 January 2012 to allow Parties time to decide
on their admission. Please refer to the official invitation
letter for details. For any questions, please contact the ASCOBANS
Secretariat.
News items of previous years can be accessed in the archive
