In response to serious problems with far-reaching international consequences and the potential to have severe impacts on the conservation of migratory species, the Convention has from time to time established Task Forces in conjunction with regular partners and other stakeholders. Their remit is strongly focused on a specific issue and their membership - when they are not specifically designated as Intergovernmental Task Forces - often extends beyond the Convention’s normal constituency to take in expertise and promote synergies and collaboration with other sectors.
The Task Force has been established under CMS COP Resolution 11.16 on the illegal killing, taking and trade of migratory birds to facilitate international cooperation as well as the implementation of the existing guidelines and action plans in particular the Tunis Action Plan 2013-2020 for the Eradication of Illegal Killing, Trapping and Trade of Wild Birds. It will also consider whether any new guidelines, action plans or other recommendations to respond to specific problems are necessary. Moreover, it will enable the exchange of information, training and education, law enforcement, deterrence and prevention to reduce the mortality rate among migratory birds.
The Energy Task Force is a multi-stakeholder platform that works towards reconciling renewable energy developments with conservation of migratory species. The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) recognized that there is a need to mainstream conservation of migratory species across the energy sector and to this end adopted the Resolution 11.27 (Rev. COP12) : Renewable Energy and Migratory Species and an analogous Resolution was adopted by AEWA Resolution 6.11. To further support the implementation of the resolutions and the use of relevant guidelines, CMS established a multi-stakeholder initiative, the Energy Task Force.
In August 2005, concerns about the role of migratory birds as potential vectors of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus subtype H5N1 led the UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), in close cooperation with the Agreement on the Conservation of African Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), to establish a Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds.
Access the Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds webpage