Second Meeting of the ACCOBAMS Contracting PartiesPalma de Mallorca, Spain, 9-12 November 2004The 2nd Meeting of the Parties to ACCOBAMS (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Espagne, France, Greece, Georgia, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine) was held in Palma de Mallorca from 9th to 12th November 2004. It was attended by some 80 delegates, including representatives from the Parties, observing countries and ACCOBAMS Partners, IGOs and NGOs. The Meeting consensously agreed ambitious initiatives that should improve the conservation of whales and dolphins in the Agreement Area and encouraged close collaboration with the Environmental Programme of the United Nations (UNEP), the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) as long as with related Conventions, International Organisations and ACCOBAMS` Partners. The Parties also agreed to contribute towards the implementation of the Joint working programm between CMS and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as being a vital part within the preparation and implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans. A comprehensive Working Program that lists eleven priority actions for the period 2005 – 2007 was approved and the Parties highly welcomed a Conservation Plan for the Common Dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea, which decline in the last few decades and its almost disappearance from large portions of its former range have been documented by scientific evidence. Much attention was given to a Resolution assessing the impact of man-made noise on cetaceans by being aware that some types of anthropogenic noise can travel hundreds and even thousands of kilometers underwater and, more than other forms of pollution, are not restricted by national boundaries. Consensously, the Meeting urged Range States to take special care and, if appropriate, to avoid any use of man-made noise in habitat of vulnerable species and in areas where marine mammals or endangered species may be concentrated. With regard to the bycatch of cetaceans, which is identified as one of the major causes of mortality from human activities, the Meeting expressed special concern over the continued use of pelagic gillnets in the Agreement Area in contrast to mainstream international and national legislation and urged Parties to ensure that their fishing operations are conducted in full accordance with the relevant existing regulations aimed at the mitigation of cetacean bycatch. Furthermore, a project to assess and mitigate the adverse impacts of interactions between cetaceans and fishing activities in the Agreement Area was endorsed and the "Guidelines for technical measures to minimize cetacean-fishery conflicts in the Mediterranean and Black Seas" were adopted. The Parties were also urged that the use of pingers (one of the techniques for the remediation of by-catches that may produce significant noise pollution and possibly exclude cetaceans from certain areas) where authorized and appropriate, only be conducted with controlled studies to ensure that they are an effective mitigation measure and link any use of pingers with an observer scheme designed to monitor their effectiveness over time. The development of criteria for the selection of special protected areas for cetacean conservation, the adoption of "Framework guidelines on the derogations for the purpose of non-lethal in situ research aimed at maintaining a favourable conservation status for cetaceans", the undertaking of a massive project on the "abundance and distribution of cetaceans within the ACCOBAMS area", the promotion of photo-identification activities, providing support to the Tissue Bank system and the development of and engagement in an educational strategy and programm as part of the awareness raising initiatives of the Agreement have been other important items the Parties welcomed and agreed on. Marie-Christine Van Klaveren declared that "The Second Meeting of the Parties was an important milestone and showed that ACCOBAMS has grown to become an important Instrument for the conservation not only of whales and dolphins but of the Mediterranean and Black Seas as a whole." The Parties expressed their gratitude to the invaluable support of the Spanish Government for its significant efforts and its hospitality assisting to make this a very successful Meeting of the Parties. The Government of Croatia has extended the invitation to host the next Meeting of the Parties which will take place in the end of 2007. In the meanwhile the Secretariat, in collaboration with the Scientific Committee, will increase the efforts to help the riparian Countries and the European Commission in the implementation of the Agreement and the decisions adopted by the Parties. Photo galleryDownloadable documents |
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