Contracting parties recognize the management of environmental plant pests as part of their responsibilities and work with national environmental sector agencies to support pest management programmes aimed at environmental protection.

Contracting parties have mechanisms in place to control the spread of environmental contaminating pests on non-plant trade pathways (e.g. invasive ants on vehicles and machinery, or gypsy moth egg masses on sea containers and vessels).

Mechanisms are in place to share adaptation strategies for responding to the impacts of climate change.

Agencies with environmental and forest biodiversity stewardship responsibilities regularly access information and other resources managed by the IPPC Secretariat.

Contracting parties continue to improve their capacity to implement key IPPC standards which directly address the spread of forest and environmental pests, such as ISPM 15 on wood packaging materials and other such standards, to contain the global spread of pests which threaten forests, biodiversity and non-cultivated flora.

Protect the environment from the impacts of plant pests

Trade in CITES-listed species is conducted in full compliance with the Convention in order to achieve their conservation and sustainable use.

Parties comply with their obligations under the Convention through the adoption and implementation of appropriate legislation, policies, and procedures.

Implementation of the Convention at the national level is consistent with Resolutions and Decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties.

The Appendices correctly reflect the conservation status and needs of species.

Parties improve the conservation status of CITES-listed specimens, put in place national conservation actions, support their sustainable use and promote cooperation in managing shared wildlife resources.

The conservation status of migratory species is improved.

By 2029, all migratory species with an unfavourable conservation status are listed in CMS Appendices and are covered by an effectively implemented CMS Instrument and/or Concerted Action. Explanation: Parties commit to include species with an unfavourable conservation status in CMS Appendices, based on best available science, and to develop and implement effective cooperative conservation and/or management actions, including CMS Instruments, Concerted Actions and other initiatives that deliver tangible and verifiable conservation outcomes.

By 2029, the conservation status of all migratory species is reviewed regularly, informing priorities for conservation and management action. Explanation: The conservation status, population trend, range and extinction risk of all migratory species is regularly monitored, including through the State of the World’s Migratory Species report, CMS National Reports, 2 other assessments and analyses of relevant publications such as those produced by CMS and its Instruments, and information from relevant stakeholders, indigenous peoples and local communities. The conclusions of this regular monitoring supports priority-setting under CMS, including the listing of new migratory species that may need specific conservation actions.

By 2032, the conservation status of all migratory species listed in CMS Appendices has improved. Explanation: CMS initiatives have helped to improve the conservation status of all CMS-listed migratory species, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Convention and Goals A and B of the GBF. Conservation efforts should strive to engage relevant stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and local communities.

Conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Carpathians is enhanced, by harmonized and coordinated efforts and cooperation on conservation, maintenance and sustainable use of natural and semi-natural habitats and securing habitat continuity and connectivity; restoration of degraded habitats; conservation and sustainable use of species of flora and fauna characteristic to the Carpathians, especially endangered or endemic species and large carnivores; and conservation and restoration of wetlands and fresh water ecosystems. (Source: Main reference document: Carpathian Convention Biodiversity Protocol Article 1 on General objective and principles)

The agriculture sector in the Carpathians, including traditionally cultivated land, is maintained and developed sustainably. Traditional knowledge and sustainable agriculture practices are maintained, enabling rural communities to flourish while preserving the natural resources and cultural heritage of the Carpathians. (Source: Main reference document: Carpathian Convention Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Protocol, Article 1 on General objective and principles)

To generate global environmental benefits through effective implementation of the UNCCD

By 2020, conserve in either medium or long term conservation programmes or facilities the genetic diversity of at-risk cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their wild relatives, and forest trees.

By 2030, benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources for food and agriculture and associated traditional knowledge are fairly and equitably shared, including by promoting appropriate access to genetic resources for food and agriculture, technology transfer and funding, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for food and agriculture.

The ecological character of Ramsar sites is maintained or restored, through effective planning and integrated management.

There is a significant increase in area, numbers and ecological connectivity in the Ramsar Site network, in particular under-represented types of wetlands including in under-represented ecoregions and Transboundary Sites.

Sites that are at risk of change of ecological character have threats addressed.

National wetland inventories have been initiated, completed or updated and disseminated and used for promoting the conservation and effective management of all wetlands.

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species

By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

WHEREAS the first objective of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is “the interest of the nations of the world in safeguarding for future generations the great natural resources represented by the whale stocks”; MINDFUL that, given the depleted status of great whale populations at the inception of the IWC, and that during the last 25 years, the International Whaling Commission has devoted a overwhelming part of its work to the pursuit of that conservation objective; NOTING that, through the adoption of more than a hundred conservation-oriented resolutions(1), as well as through various Schedule amendments, the Commission has evolved into an organization internationally recognized, among other things, for its meaningful contributions to the conservation of great whales; furthering that conservation work through those Resolutions and Schedule amendments, the Commission has gradually developed an extensive conservation-oriented agenda(2); NOTING that since the Convention came into force in 1948 several key conventions have been adopted which may affect great whales, including, inter alia, UNLOS, CITES, IOC, ICSU, the CBD, CMS, ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS; RECOGNIZING the various challenges referred to in previous Resolutions and Schedule Amendments, it is prudent for the Commission to effectively organize its future work in the pursuit of its objective by devising an appropriate agenda that places special emphasis on its benefits to conservation. NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION: WELCOMES initiatives to assess the achievements and orientation of the cumulative work of the Commission in the pursuit of its conservation objective; ENDORSES the proposals made by various Contracting Governments to organize, on the basis of that assessment, the future Conservation Agenda of the Commission and to cooperate in its preparation; DECIDES to establish a Conservation Committee of the Commission, composed of all Contracting Parties, in conformity with Article III paragraph 4 of the Convention; DECIDES to entrust the Conservation Committee with: (1) The preparation and recommendation to the Commission of its future Conservation Agenda, taking full account of this Resolution; (2) The implementation of those items in the Agenda that the Commission may refer to it and (3) Making recommendations to the Commission in order to maintain and update the Conservation Agenda on a continuing basis. INSTRUCTS the Conservation Committee to meet before the Commission’s Annual Meeting in 2004, in order to organize its work, so that the Conservation Agenda can be considered for adoption by the Commission at that Annual Meeting. DIRECTS the Conservation Committee to explore how the Commission can coordinate its conservation agenda through greater collaboration with a wider range of other organizations and conventions including inter alia CMS, CCAMLR, IMO, IUCN, and UNEP. REQUESTS the Scientific Committee to advise the Conservation Committee in the performance of the tasks entrusted to it in this Resolution, and to ensure that the appropriate scientific research items, including inter alia, whalewatching, environmental issues and behavioural research, under the responsibility of the Scientific Committee, are incorporated in the Conservation Agenda.2 REQUESTS the Conservation Committee to begin exploring the possible establishment, by the Commission, of an appropriate trust fund (including the identification of potential contributors), to make available the necessary financial resources to the Commission and, particularly, to the Contracting Governments committed to implementing specific items of the Conservation Agenda related to conservation-oriented research. To that end, the Committee shall give priority to the question of securing assistance for scientific research and capacity building for scientists and institutions from developing countries, and shall take advantage from the experiences obtained in other international environmental and conservation conventions and treaties, in the establishment of similarly-oriented international funds. DIRECTS the Secretariat to prepare a report, to be considered by the Commission at its next annual meeting, on the implementation of Resolution 1998-6 regarding the establishment of a dedicated “Environment Research Fund” to facilitate research on environmental change and cetaceans, as well as on the results of the appeal it made in its Resolution 1999-5 “to the Contracting Governments, other governments, international organizations and other bodies to contribute financially an in kind” to research programs, and to include in that report a recommendation to the Commission, as to how that Fund could best be considered in the light of the possible establishment of the trust fund referred to in the previous paragraph Read more https://archive.iwc.int/?r=2078

AWARE that there exist differences in views between member states on the regulatory competence of the IWC with regard to small cetaceans, and noting that this Resolution does not seek in any way to prejudice different members' positions; NOTING that the biology ofvaquita and concerns about incidental mortality in the shark and totoaba fishery were first mentioned in the published report of the IWC Scientific Committee's first meeting on small cetaceans, Montreal, 1974 (IWC, 1975).i NOTING that the Commission first passed Resolution 1994-3, which acknowledged the immediate need to eliminate incidental catches of vaquita throughout the entire range of the species; AWARE that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the vaquita as Critically Endangered in 1996, and the population has significantly declined since then as a result of bycatch in entangling fishing nets (gillnets); RECALLING IWC Resolution 2007-5 which urged members of the IWC and the world community to support Mexico's efforts to prevent the extinction of the vaquita by reducing bycatch to zero in the immediate future and assisting in providing financial resources and technical as well as socio- economic expertise; RECALLING the repeated recommendations of the IWC Scientific Committee, the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA) and the IUCN that gillnets must be eliminated from the vaquita's range in order to reduce bycatch to zero; CONCERNED about the recent escalation of the illegal totoaba fishery and the illegal international trade of totoaba swim bladders, which has precipitated a dramatic decline in vaquita numbers over the last five years; DEEPLY CONCERNED that the estimated total abundance of vaquitas in 2015 was 59 (95% Cl 22- 145), compared to previous estimates of 567 (95% Cl 177-1,073) in 1997 and 245 (95% Cl 68-884) in 2008; FURTHER CONCERNED that at leastthreevaquita were killed by totoaba gillnets in March 2016, despite strong enforcement efforts in the Upper Gulfof California; NOTING the Scientific Committee's strong endorsement of the recommendations contained in the June 2016 CIRVA-7 report;ii NOTING the recent adoption of IUCN Resolution 013 on "Actions to avert the extinction ofthe vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus)" and CITES Decision 17.Xa ''Totoaba - Totoaba macdonaldi - Opportunities for international collaboration within the CITES framework" RECOGNISING the hardships faced by the fishing communities of the Upper Gulf in light of the gillnet ban, and mindful of the need to develop and support alternative livelihoods such that these communities can overcome these challenges;   NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION: EXPRESSES DEEP CONCERN that the vaquita numbers less than 59 animals and is facing imminent extinction; AFFIRMS that only a permanent, complete, and effective gillnet ban in all fisheries operating in the Upper Gulf of California will prevent the imminent extinction of the vaquita; COMMENDS the Mexican Government for the Strategy on the Comprehensive Care of the Upper Gulf of California that includes an interagency enforcement programme, a two-year gillnet ban (from May 2015), compensation for fishermen and those who work in fishery-related activities and the development of alternative fishing gear; COMMENDS the Mexican Government on the announcement of a permanent ban on gillnets in the Upper Gulf of California gillnet exclusion zone from April 2017 and the programme to remove derelict fishing gear in the Upper Gulfof California. URGES the Mexican Government to eliminate any exemptions to the ban, which can facilitate illegal fishing for totoaba, and to prohibit the use of any gillnets within the range of the vaquita; ENDORSES the recommendations of the IWC Scientific Committee, in particular the urgent need to strengthen enforcement efforts against illegal fishing in Mexico and totoaba smuggling out of Mexico and into transit and destination countries; the urgent need to remove active and ghost gillnets from the range of the vaquita; and the need to maintain the acoustic monitoring programme as a key action in support of any recovery strategy; URGES all Contracting Governments to follow the recommendations in CITES Decision 17. xa and strengthen enforcement actions to eliminate the illegal international trade in totoaba swim bladders, in particular those countries where totoaba products are consumed or in transit, including the United States and China; URGES Contracting Governments to support Mexico's efforts to prevent the extinction of the vaquita by assisting in providing financial resources as well as technical and socio-economic expertise; REQUESTS the IWC Secretary to forward a copy of this Resolution to the CITES, FAO and IUCN Secretariats 

CONCERNED with the finding of the Scientific Committee concurring with the recent results of the baiji survey in the Yangzte River that has led the scientific community to conclude that the baiji is functionally extinct. It is the first cetacean species to disappear in modern times. The main factors that drove the baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) to extinction were habitat degradation and incidental catch. RECALLING that since 1991 the IWC SC has recommended that conservation actions must be taken immediately to eliminate bycatch of the vaquita (Phocoena sinus) in the northernmost Gulf of California, Mexico, to prevent its extinction. Moreover, since 1997 the International Committee for the Recovery of Vaquita (CIRVA) has recommended that bycatch be reduced to zero by banning entangling nets throughout the vaquita’s range whilst noting the difficulties involved in trying to reconcile the vaquita’s need for immediate protection with the needs of the affected people. FURTHER RECALLING that IUCN has listed the vaquita as Vulnerable in 1978, Endangered in 1990 and Critically Endangered since 1996. NOTING that CIRVA recommended a staged reduction in fishing effort starting in January 2000, with the expectation that gillnetting would be completely eliminated by January 2002. FURTHER NOTING that in March 2007 the IUCN Director-General expressed, through a letter to the President of Mexico, that organization’s grave concern about the future of the vaquita. IUCN also acknowledged the serious social and economic implications of banning the use of entangling nets in the Northern Gulf and indicated that conservation efforts must include programs that will help meet the needs of people in the region. FURTHER NOTING that Mexico has followed many of the recommendations to protect and monitor the vaquita, e.g. by closing the totoaba fishery, protecting the vaquita’s habitat through Marine Protected Areas (Biosphere Reserve of the Upper Gulf of California and Delta of the Colorado River and the recently declared Vaquita Refuge), and implementing an acoustic monitoring program. FURTHER RECALLING that the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries have been working cooperatively with several non-governmental organizations to implement a comprehensive recovery plan with a strong socio-economic component as recommended by CIRVA. FURTHER CONCERNED that progress towards reducing/eliminating entanglement has been very slow despite efforts to ban gillnets from the vaquita’s core area of occurrence and elsewhere in the Northern Gulf. The baiji experience shows that extinction can happen rapidly and without evidence of a steady or prolonged decline, if appropriate conservation actions are not taken promptly. FURTHER NOTING that the vaquita’s survival is at a critical juncture. The best hope for the species is that the international community and non-governmental organizations will support the Government of Mexico by providing technical and financial assistance in the implementation of CIRVA’s Recovery Plan and the Biosphere Reserve. NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION: COMMENDS Mexico’s intense recent efforts to prevent the extinction of the vaquita despite the difficulties involved in reducing bycatch to zero, and especially given the difficulties of providing alternative livelihoods to isolated fishing communities in the Northern Gulf. FURTHER COMMENDS the President of Mexico for the recent announcement on the Conservation Program for Endangered Species (PROCER), which calls for the implementation of specific Species Conservation Action Programs (PACE) for a list of selected species. The vaquita is among the top five species on this list.IWC59\Resolution 2007-5 2 04/06/07 URGES the Members of IWC and the world community to support Mexico's efforts to prevent the extinction of the vaquita by reducing bycatch to zero in the immediate future and assisting in providing financial resources and technical as well as socio-economic expertise.

Resolution 2001-13 Resolution on Small Cetaceans APPRECIATING the valuable work of the Standing Sub Committee on Small Cetaceans (SCSC) and recognising the usefulness of its findings to other international and regional bodies; COMMENDING the SCSC’s species and population-specific reviews which enable the Scientific Committee and Commission to make species-specific recommendations; NOTING in particular the Scientific Committee’s recent acknowledgement of the critically endangered status of the baiji and vaquita, the depleted or unknown status of many beluga stock and the uncertain status of the narwhal; NOTING the continuing and critical threat to some small cetaceans posed by directed takes and their incidental capture in fisheries operations; WELCOMING the information on direct and incidental takes of small cetaceans provided by some Contracting Governments through their annual progress reports to the IWC; RECOGNISING the Government of Mexico’s recovery strategy for the vaquita, the objective of which is to reduce by-catches of vaquita as rapidly as possible; CONCERNED that, in the absence of information on population status, trends and distribution, takes and other anthropogenic removals, the removal of certain small cetaceans may be detrimental to the survival of that species; REGRETTING that, despite repeated requests for information and action on certain species and populations, the requested information and action have not always been forthcoming; NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION: COMMENDS Contracting Governments who have instigated/taken conservation measures in relation to small cetaceans in their waters and through other regional bodies; URGES Contracting Governments to respond to outstanding and future requests from the Scientific Committee for information on the status of, and threats to small cetaceans and recommendations for action; DIRECTS the Scientific Committee to undertake a regular review of the extent to which outstanding recommendations and resolutions relating to small cetaceans have been fulfilled; CALLS ON Contracting Governments to report to the extent practicable information on all direct and non-direct takes and other anthropogenic removals in their national progress reports; URGES Contracting Governments to take all appropriate measures to prevent, minimise and mitigate by-catch of small cetaceans in fisheries operations; SUPPORTS the recommendations of the Scientific Committee in 1999 that beluga range states continue studies to resolve the structure of beluga stocks, conduct contaminant analysis and health assessments and provide relevant scientific data to the Scientific Committee; FURTHER URGES narwhal range states to respond to the recommendations of the Scientific Committee in 1999 to undertake genetic and telemetry studies to identify stocks and improve catch reporting, as well as to assess the potential impact of threats including radionuclide contamination; FURTHER URGES all Contracting Governments to respond to the Scientific Committee’s requests to report progress on the conservation of critically endangered species, including baiji; ENCOURAGES Contracting Governments to offer technical, scientific and financial support to range states to assist their small cetacean conservation measures;2001-13.doc 2 15/05/12 11:26 URGES the IWC under its Memorandum of Understanding with the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) to pursue complementary and mutually supportive actions in respect of small cetaceans.