3rd Pacific Cetaceans MoU adopts a new five-year Whale and Dolphin Action Plan

16th September 2012

Signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region (Pacific Cetaceans MoU) held their third meeting on 8 September 2012, in Noumea, New Caledonia, addressing the threats facing whales and dolphins in the Pacific Islands Region.

With support from representatives of collaborating organizations and country observers, the Signatories endorsed a recovery plan for the endangered humpback whale population in Oceania, and adopted a five-year Action Plan (2013-2017) for the MOU, which sets priorities for addressing the threats faced by this species, as well as increasing capacity and public awareness in the region. Through a correspondence process, the Signatories will identify ways to facilitate implementation of the actions with highest priority, including by linking this regional initiative to processes at global level for the conservation of migratory species under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

Signatories welcomed the activities of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to the agreement, as established in 2009 and coordinated by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).

The key to successful protection of whales and dolphins in the region is streamlining the Signatories’ conservation and management actions into national plans and policies so as to strengthen their implementation, monitoring and reporting efforts. Given that Pacific Island states are currently reviewing their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), there is an excellent opportunity to achieve this and Signatories agreed to extract and integrate relevant priority actions from the newly adopted MOU Action Plan into their national plans.

The Pacific Cetaceans MoU was concluded in 2006 under the auspices CMS with support from SPREP. Signatories of the MOU include: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, France (including French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna), Federated States of Micronesia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom (for Pitcairn Is) and Vanuatu

More information on the Pacific Cetaceans MoU is on the CMS website as well as the agreements own website www.pacificcetaceans.org