40 species including snowy owl added to UN list for greater protection

After a week of talks in Campo Grande, Brazil, countries have committed to giving 40 migratory animal species greater protection as they move across borders and biomes.

“The expanded protections for cheetahs, snowy owls, giant otters, great hammerhead sharks and many others demonstrate that nations can take action when the science is clear,” said Amy Frankel, executive secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, or CMS.

This is the 15th meeting of the countries involved united nations treatySigned in 1979. Canada has not ratified the treaty. These iconic species have now been added to the treaty’s appendices, with provisions ranging from strict protection to encouraging cooperation to prevent species extinction and endangerment.

Species are global travelers

Apart from the dangers these animals face, the thing that binds them all is that they do not consider any one area their home.

The breeding range of species such as the snowy owl is in the Canadian Archipelago, but they roam into the Arctic – although Travelers have stopped traveling in at least one country. The suspicion is that climate change is affecting their major prey, lemmings.

With its inclusion in Appendix II, countries are now encouraged to work together on potential joint action plans to protect the snowy owl. Norway, which brought the initial proposal, said its addition would allow it to continue and develop its conservation work as well as better monitor the species.

Another group of species included in the list are two varieties of hammerhead sharks. Uniquely sized, these social creatures migrate to breed and can eventually become entangled in industrial fishing nets, as bycatch and intentionally for shark fin markets.

“They are in deep crisis,” said Pelayo Salinas de Leon, a marine ecologist at the Charles Darwin Foundation. He pointed out that some species of hammerheads are Critically Endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“And that’s why including them in Appendix I of the CMS convention is an important step toward returning populations to their former glory.”

They are now on the more strict Appendix I, where their endangered status means countries must ban any deliberate catching or harvesting of the species.

there is more work ahead

The total number of species in both CMS appendices now exceeds 1,200.

While the CMS brings together more than 130 countries that have ratified the treaty, known as the Bonn Convention, it has been criticized Due to countries’ voluntary and non-binding measures not being as effective as well due to lack of funding.

Also, major players in farming and fishing such as the United States, China and Japan are not included in this convention. But hosting this year’s event in Campo Grande, close to the biodiverse Pantanal wetlands, has brought progress for the South American country. These countries were able to agree on adding several species to list – including giant otters, a type of catfish and a neotropical bird – that spread across the continent during different periods of their lives.

“Hosting COP15 in Brazil helped put forward concrete proposals and strengthen regional cooperation,” Mariana Napolitano, conservation director for World Wildlife Fund Brazil, said in a statement. “At the same time, it became clear that the next step was to translate this ambition into actual implementation.”

Combined with other treaties, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), this meeting is a way to highlight some of the extraordinary creatures roaming around our planet and explain why they need help.

The next meeting is expected to take place in 2029, marking 50 years since the signing of the treaty, where it will once again be held in Bonn, Germany.