The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or the Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, marine, and avian migratory species throughout their range. There are now 102 countries that are parties or members of this convention.

The CMS has two levels of species protection. Species listed under Appendix I are migratory species that are at risk of extinction throughout all or a portion of their range. Strict conservation measures for these species are required from countries that are parties to the convention.

Species listed under Appendix II require or would significantly benefit from conservations measures taken by international agreements for their continued survival. A species does not have to be endangered to warrant listing on Appendix II. No direct protection measures are required from member countries for Appendix II species, but they are required to develop regional agreements to further the protection for these species according to guidelines established by the convention.

One of the regional agreements under the auspices of the CMS is the Indian Ocean–South-East Asia Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding (IOSEA MOU). This MOU provides a framework for countries in the region to increase protection for endangered sea turtles. It includes a conservation and management plan for reducing direct (e.g. human consumption) and indirect (e.g., incidental catch by fisheries) causes of sea turtle mortalities.

Read HSI’s Position Statement to the Convention on Migratory Species’ 10th Conference of Parties.