Two new key papers on marine mammal welfare.

And both are free online
Whale welfare tool paper HERE
Predator control paper HERE

A visit to an Indian wetland - Nasarovar in Gujarat

Sunrise over Nasarovar - viewed from out on the lake in small skiff.

Some 60km outside of Ahmedabad lies Nasarovar wetland. This a large lake system with many small islands, reed beds, lillies and thousands of birds, many on migration. We visited in the early morning, seeing the dawn come-up from out on the lake in a small skiff. 

Purple swamp hen

Purple heron 

A brown-headed gull.

Marsh harrier (not a great photo - but seen overhead several times)

brown-headed gulls around a fishing boat

Glossy Ibis

Indian black-winged stilt

putative eastern yellow wagtail

Indian house crow

Island in the lake where visitors are taken to be offered tea, coffee and snacks - brown-headed gulls in attendance.

Tower on the island - watch that first step!

Tea making camp - one of several on the shore under simple awnings and adorned with colourful carpets

brown-headed gulls

marsh harrier

Large egret

Other keen photographers out on the lake

Red-wattled lapwing

Travelling companions.

Mark Simmonds.

Purple swamp hens

There were also some impressive animals on the road to the wetlands:

Save the Migratory Species in 2020 - the culture intervention from the United Kingdom

Here, with their kind permission is the intervention made by the UK delegation on culture:

We would like to thank the Secretariat, Scientific Council, and Animal Culture and Social Complexity working group for developing this proposal and for all of their work in this area so far.

This is an important emerging area of conservation research and we recognise the need to conserve the unique behavioural traits of populations.

Learning offers species the opportunity to use their environment adaptively, and can be important in contributing to their survival.  For example, when Matriarchal elephants guide their herds to food and water in times of drought. 

In a number of cases learning can be regarded as ‘culture’, such as when specific ways of sourcing food are passed on within particular populations or sub-populations. 

This is potentially important for population management and human interactions with these species.  Taking the work that has been done already and considering how the literature on animal culture can be applied practically is, we consider, an important step forward. For example, in discussions around how human interactions with species might affect the structure of a population. 

The UK therefore supports this proposal. We welcome suggestions from the Scientific Council and working group as to how this new area of research can be applied via practical management advice for the conservation of migratory species and we look forward to hearing more in the future. Thank you.

The walkway outside the meeting rooms for CoP13

Save the migratory species in 2020 - the harbour porpoise at CoP 13

HSI and three other non-governmental organisations brought a proposal for a concerted action for two European harbour porpoise populations.

You can find the proposal - which was agreed by the meeting - HERE.

And the speech presenting it was as follows:

Thank you – I am honoured to present this proposal to the CoP contained in document 28.2.7 Rev on the behalf of four non-governmental organisations Humane Society International, Orca, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and Coalition Clean Baltic.

Chairman, as we have just heard in the context of several other species, the history of small cetacean conservation around the world is indeed increasingly an unhappy one, as we repeatedly move too slowly to recognise problems and respond to diminishing populations.

This proposal for a concerted action is focused on two small, distinct and imperilled populations of porpoise , Phocoena phocoena, - a species in all too many ways similar to the vaquita. The first population, the Baltic harbour porpoise sits in its limited range balanced on the edge of extinction and has long been recognised to be in need of urgent conservation action; the second, the population of the Iberian peninsula has been more recently recognised as distinctive. There is considerable evidence that the effects of removals mainly resulting from fisheries activities and other factors, including chemical pollution, affecting these populations are unsustainable and the road to their extinction is paved with our indifference.  

The proposal reflects the desire of the proponent organisations to support the range states in implementing timely actions. These populations are covered by two of the CMS daughter agreements – ASCOBANS and ACCOBAMS – and an action plan – the Jastarnina Plan for the Baltic porpoise – and we strongly support these agreements and this plan. However, plans and words must now result in real actions.

Chairman, we have listened to many discussions about the critical situation of the Baltic porpoise over more than two decades and with my NGO colleagues and other experts we have helped to develop plans for it – but the reality is that it survives now only in spite of our inaction, not because of our actions.

Hence, we also respectfully request the range states to list the populations appropriately on the CMS appendices as soon as possible and implement appropriate actions before it is too late. For these populations and for many other small cetaceans around the world, unless we swiftly recognise their situation and appropriately respond, one by one they will simply wink out of existence. The world will then be a poorer place; the ecosystems less complete and more fragile; and our children will never get to see an animal that was once common in inshore waters across Europe.

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As a small celebration of the harbour porpoise, I had some stamps made up - with thanks to Lucy Molleson for lending her image to the effort.

Watching the stamps being created

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Saving the the migratory species - the final curtain part 2

CMS CoP13 on a break

By 2.45 pm in the afternoon the Chair of the plenary is back in his seat and the Committee of the Whole has been closed.

The credentials committee reports that 82 parties were present and 77% had their credentials in order.

The elections of new members of the standing committee are agreed.

The chairman steadily works through all the documents containing all the proposals previously examined and, in some cases amended, and approved in the Committee of the Whole and after each one he brings his gavel down to indicate they are passed.

This is followed by some speeches and then we are done.

 Some of the news covering the meeting:
Indian Express
The Weather Channel
BBC News
China Daily.

And there is a very good overview of the main outcomes of the meeting provided by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin HERE

A medal given by the Government of India to all who attended CoP13

Saving the Migratory Species - the final curtain part 1

At the back of the great hall of CMS CoP13

And so - after a day's break - we enter the final few hours on the last day of CMS CoP 13 - at the start of the day we are meeting in the Committee of the Whole still.

Note is made of the situation of the CMS budget and several hours later the budget is agreed for the next three years.

The Chair carefully works through some issues including those appointed to a range of leading roles in the CMS Scientific Council - the CoP-Appointed Councillors - these cover invasive species, marine pollution, marine mammals, fish, birds,terrestrial species and climate change.

Those proposed are all agreed by the CoW with the exception of the invasive species role which will be agreed later.

The conservation of insects is touched on with a strong supporting statement from Senegal. Brazil and the EU get into a debate around changes to the relevant document and are sent away to sort this out.

Most other documents are agreed without dissent and cover issues such as renewable energy, the poisoning of bats, protecting flyways, plastic pollution, climate change and bycatch.

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As we wait on the closing session, here is a quick look around the display area of the CoP - there is a wealth of information available and also many plastic animals!

Some of the birds of India

A large plastic manatee

The South Asian river dolphin - which was discussed at the CoP and concerted actions agreed.

West African manatee on the menu!

Save the Migratory Species in 2020 - 4

A side event on the proposal to better protect the 'nut-cracking' chimpanzees of west Africa

The full panel at the side event

A remarkably empty great hall during a session of the CoW.

Over the next three days the COP meets as the COW (the Committee of the Whole) - which is a massive working group (meeting in the big plenary hall) - here all proposals receive their first assessments before being proposed for adoption at the closing plenary at the very end of the meeting.

A number of big working groups - on terrestrial, marine and avian proposals are also being held to give detailed attention to some proposals.

Over the course of the next couple of days, a whole series of proposals are agreed by the CoW. These include:

• Mainland Asian Elephant/Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) added to Appendix I
• The jaguar (Panthera onca) added to Appendices I and II
• The antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis) added to Appendix I
• Oceanic White-tip Shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) added in Appendix I.
• Smooth Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna zygaena) listed on Appendix II
• The Tope Shark (Galeorhinus galeus) added in Appendix II

Alokparna Sengupta of HSI India

The Indian Delegation

A view of the meeting on the big screen in the middle of the room

Chris Wold, legal adviser to the secretariat

A vote takes place

A signing ceremony as two NGOs become partners to CMS

Fernando Spina, Chair of the CMS Science Council 

On the big screen - part of the UK delegation: Jamie and Donna

The redoubtable CoP-Appointed Councillor for marine mammals, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara talking about protected areas for marine mammals.