Overview
- Delegates at the CMS meeting in Brazil approved listing 40 additional migratory species under the treaty’s protection appendices.
- Newly listed or upgraded species include cheetahs, snowy owls, giant otters, striped hyenas and several sharks such as the great hammerhead.
- The conference also adopted regional programs for the Amazon and targeted actions to reduce bycatch, habitat loss, illegal hunting, plastic pollution and underwater noise.
- UN data presented at the meeting show nearly half of CMS-listed species are in decline and about a quarter face extinction risk, with freshwater fish down more than 80% since 1970 due to dams, pollution, overfishing and blocked rivers.
- The pact now covers over 1,200 species across more than 130 parties, and conservation leaders urged rapid national implementation as major countries like the USA, China and Russia remain outside the agreement.