Major New Global Initiative to Protect and Connect Natural Areas Launched at UN Wildlife Meeting
A major new initiative was launched at the UN wildlife meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to ensure that areas of importance to migratory species are identified, protected and connected.
Pictured: Gabriel Oppler, International Policy & Partnerships Specialist, Center for Large Landscape Conservation; Aaron Laur, International Connectivity Program, Policy & Partnerships Manager, Center for Large Landscape Conservation; Frances Davis, Senior Programme Officer, UNEP-WCMC; Ingrid Coetzee; Director, Biodiversity, Nature & Health, ICLEI Africa and Global Cities Biodiversity Center; Senator Ronan Dantec, President, Climate Chance Association; Rafael Antelo (Ph.D.) Wildlife Connect Leader and PACHA Coordinator, WWF; Madhu Rao, Chair, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas; Dr Musonda Mumba , Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands; H.E. Aziz Abdukhakimov, Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan; Amy Fraenkel, CMS Executive Secretary; Gary Tabor, CEO, Center for Large Landscape Conservation; Fernando Spina, CMS COP-appointed Councilor for Ecological Connectivity, Katharine Newman, Vice-President sustainable infrastructure; WWF US: © Anvar Zokirov
Samarkand, 14 February 2024 – The destruction, degradation and fragmentation of natural habitat is one of the two greatest threats to migratory species of wild animals. Today a major new initiative was launched at the UN wildlife meeting taking place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to ensure that areas of importance to migratory species are identified, protected and connected. Known as the Global Partnership on Ecological Connectivity (GPEC), the announcement took place on the margins of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP14) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
Initiated by CMS, the partnership is joined by several organizations, including Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC), Climate Chance, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), UN Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD), the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Belgium, France, Monaco, and Uzbekistan are among the CMS Parties participating in this new initiative.
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