WCC 2020 Res 071 - Activity Report

The Latin American and Caribbean Transport Working Group (LACTWG) supported a 250-participant “Bolivian Workshop on Wildlife Crossings” producing 50 conclusions and recommendations.

Via the cross-commission IUCN-SSC/WCPA Asian Elephant Transport Working Group, CCSG and partners continued to contribute toward activities that “Tackle barriers/obstacles to natural migration” as outlined in the CMS Concerted Action for the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus). This included contributing to the 3rd Asian Elephant Range States Meeting in April 2022 where delegates adopted the Kathmandu Declaration for Asian Elephant Conservation including the following two priority commitments to be achieved by 2025:
• Promote the maintenance and connectivity of large Asian Elephant conservation landscapes where new permitted developmental activities such as linear infrastructures are elephant- and biodiversity-appropriate; and
• Promote the development of national guidelines on wildlife-friendly linear infrastructure, including elephant, based on those developed by the Asian Elephant Specialist Group of the IUCN SSC and Connectivity [Conservation] Specialist Group [of the IUCN WCPA] after Range States consultations.

CCSG’s Transport Working Group was represented by Co-Chairs Rob Ament and Rodney van der Ree in the first meeting of the “CMS Intersessional Working Group on Linear Infrastructure” on the island of Vilm (Germany) on 27 June – 1 July 2022. With over 50 participants attending from around the world, the meeting assisted the CMS Secretariat to develop a set of 29 recommendations for Parties, the CMS Scientific Council, and Secretariat to better address the impacts of infrastructure on migratory species. The recommendations are expected to be advanced by the Scientific Council for official adoption.

In addition to the work of the CMS Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI) on impacts of infrastructure serving to inform the aforementioned meeting, CCSG and partners continue to coordinate with leading experts to advance Persian Leopard conservation. A long-postponed meeting was held in September 2022 in Tbilisi (Georgia) as the 1st Range State Meeting for the Persian Leopard and the Range-Wide Strategy was agreed.