WCC 2020 Res 126 - Progress Report

General Information

Resolution
49798
Period covered

I. IUCN Constituencies implementing this Resolution

IUCN Members
No other Members are/have been involved
IUCN Commissions
IUCN Species Survival Commission 2021-2025
IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas 2021-2025
IUCN Secretariat
Yes
Other non-IUCN related organisations
It is a recommendation. The goal is to influence Parties and governments in various fora on the issue. One can cite the CMS, IWC, ATCM, CCAMLR, ACCOMBAMS, ASCOBANS.

II. Implementation

Activities carried out to implement this Resolution
Convene stakeholders/Networking
Policy influencing/advocacy
Describe the results/achievements of the activities
N.B. This is a recommendation, not a resolution.
This recommendation focuses on reinforcing the protection of marine mammals through regional cooperation.
Among the achievements of actions taken by IUCN constituencies, one can cite the work on Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) conducted by the joint WCPA SCC Task Force on Marine Mammal Protected Areas (MMPA). Regional workshops to identify IMMAs were conducted, notably in the Southern Ocean with the support of the French Biodiversity Agency and North East Indian Ocean & South East Asian Seas, the Mediterranean sea and the Black sea thanks to the support of the German government via the multiyear GOBI IKI project. Results of these scientific expert workshops were presented in various policy / conservation fora as for example the ATCM and the Scientific Committee of CCAMLR for the IMMAs regional workshop for the Extended Southern Ocean region. In both cases, an Information Paper was jointly submitted by IUCN and SCAR to inform the decision-making processes in these fora to enhance the protection of marine mammals.

Lessons learnt from several Secretariat-led projects, for example on the conservation of Grey Whales, were picked up by the international community and States to promote effective measures to enhance the protection of marine mammals in several regions of the world ocean.

Advocacy and expertise of Members helped produced a number of studies in recent years, as for example the big report on whale migratory corridors.
Challenges/obstacles encountered in the implementation of this Resolution and measures taken
A lack of time available and associated resources (staff time) to coordinate actions between the Secretariat and the Commissions and Members on the content of this recommendation is the major challenge encountered in the implementation of this Recommendation.

On the evolution of the context:
We note with great regret that, at the last meeting of the IWC in 2022, the adoption of the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary failed despite the wish of several South American countries.
Future actions / activities needed for the implementation of this Resolution
Expand the implementation of this recommendation to other regions, notably the South West Indian Ocean via engaging with the Nairobi Convention and the Carribean with the Cartagena Convention.
On networks of managers, explore this issue with MedPAN.
Reach to ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS to assess how these existing mechanisms could be reinforced.
Identify where regional cooperation will be most important to be able to make recommendations on actionable steps.
Are these actions/activities planned?
No

III. Status of implementation

Implementation status of this Resolution
On-going: implementation consisting of repetitive, recurrent action (attending meetings, reporting, etc.)
Report status
Published