CMS and IUCN-ELC

In the spirit of maintaining collaboration on legal matters, a new MOU between the IUCN Environmental Law Centre (IUCN-ELC), represented by Director, Alejandro Iza and the CMS Family Secretariats, represented by Executive Secretary, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema was signed in Bonn (Germany) on 2 September. According to a CMS Press Release, "Based on an agreed number of days per year, the IUCN-ELC pledges, upon request and on a non-remunerative basis, to continue providing the CMS Family Secretariats with legal assistance." A specific, but not exhaustive, list of tasks including analyzing gaps to determine the potential benefits of new CMS instruments, drafting new CMS instruments, and assessing implications of the potential structural changes of the CMS Family has been agreed for the coming year and will be reviewed annually. Additional legal assistance in the future might include the amendment of the Convention or Agreement Text, the geographical coverage of existing CMS instruments or the merger of their secretariats.