U.N. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) adds 40 species to global protection list at COP15 in Brazil

Key facts

• The U.N. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) approved listing 40 new species for international protection at the COP15 summit in Campo Verde, Brazil.
• The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica), great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran), striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) are among the newly protected species.
• Representatives from 132 countries and the European Union attended the COP15 summit on migratory species.
• CMS Parties are legally obliged to protect listed species, conserve and restore their habitats, prevent migration obstacles and cooperate with other range states.
• A pre-summit report indicated that 49 percent of CMS-catalogued species show declining numbers and nearly one in four are threatened with global extinction.
• A separate U.N. assessment released during the summit warned that migratory freshwater fish populations face collapse due to habitat destruction, overfishing and water pollution.