COP15 Closes With 40 Species Listed, New Amazon Fish Plan, and Funding Strategy

Overview

• The CMS summit in Campo Grande ended with 40 species added to its Appendices I and II, which require strict protection or joint conservation through cross‑border action.
• Delegates approved a Plan of Action for large Amazonian migratory catfishes to keep rivers connected through research, route monitoring, sustainable fishing, and work with Indigenous and local communities.
• The giant otter gained CMS protection, a step that helps safeguard key wetlands in the Pantanal and Amazon where hunting and habitat loss have cut populations.
• Countries backed a Pantanal Declaration and a new strategy to raise money so developing nations can carry out the treaty, and organizers cited 15 concerted actions and 39 resolutions.
• Brazil will lead the convention for the next three years and COP16 is set for Bonn in 2029, while governments now face pressure to update laws and fix weak enforcement on fires, dams, barriers, and illegal hunting.