The 15th United Nations Conference on Migratory Species of Wildlife (COP15), in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, reaches the midpoint of its program this Thursday (Mar. 26), with significant progress in evaluating proposals to include 42 new species under international conservation efforts.

According to COP15 President and Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change João Paulo Capobianco, a review meeting of the organizing committee confirmed that there will be no delays to the agenda approved on the first day of the conference.

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Currently, efforts to revise the two lists - of endangered species (Annex I) and species under pressure (Annex II) - that accompany the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) are already well advanced, Capobianco said. “Many debates are taking place, along with requests for clarification. It is very common for a country to question the scientific basis for including a species in the annexes or for changes in classification,” he explained.

Research

Over three days, numerous studies were presented, including a report pointing to a significant decline in freshwater migratory fish.

“The Conference of the Parties is a forum for discussing proposals and documents already submitted and included on the agenda, but it is also a moment when the scientific community, civil society organizations, indigenous peoples, quilombola communities, and traditional communities have the opportunity to present new information and recommendations,” the COP15 president said.

Even before the official program began, the Brazilian government had already launched a series of actions aligned with the conference’s purpose: promoting agreements for the conservation of migratory species, their habitats, and environmental corridors.

Protection

“Among the Brazilian government’s actions is a presidential decree establishing the Albardão National Park and the Albardão Environmental Protection Area (APA) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, covering more than 1 million hectares. “It is an area that extends 106 kilometers from the state’s coast into the ocean, encompassing a fantastic wide range of depths, from the shallowest to about 75 meters. This allows access to the full spectrum of biological diversity found at different depths,” Capobianco added.”

Knowledge

The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, in conjunction with the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, also launched a call for proposals to promote scientific research aimed at expanding knowledge of migratory species in Brazil.

“The objective is to map the routes these species take when passing through our territory and identify the key locations that need protection, to verify whether these areas are already protected and, if not, to adopt protection measures,” the COP president noted.

Among the positive outcomes at the start of the conference were announcements that the first specialized courts and Federal Public Prosecutor’s Offices for the Pantanal biome will be created, made by the president of the Court of Justice of Mato Grosso do Sul, Judge Dorival Pavan, and the president of the Superior Court of Justice, Antônio Herman Benjamin.

According to Capobianco, these initiatives demonstrate that Brazil is strongly committed to the CMS and will continue to play an active role, leading “by example” in international actions and agreements over the next three years.

“In other words, it is not enough to make proposals, recommendations, or requests. It is important that the country, along with all participating nations, take concrete actions,” he concluded.