Adeje, Tenerife, Spain,
17 October 2007 – A new Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) for the protection of the Eastern
Atlantic Populations of the Mediterranean
Monk Seal was concluded under the auspices
of CMS. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania,
the Kingdom of Morocco, the Republic of
Portugal and the Kingdom of Spain signed
the agreement in Adeje in the margins of
the CMS meeting on Western African Talks
on Cetaceans and their Habitats (WATCH).
The agreement will be open for signature
to all the Atlantic range states.
Since 1986, the populations of Mediterranean
Monk Seals have been at the centre of the
Mediterranean Action Plan of UNEP. The Mediterranean
Monk Seal has also been a main focus of
CMS conservation measures for marine mammals.
The Mediterranean Monk Seal is one of the
most threatened marine mammals in the world
and is listed on the Appendices of the Convention.
Only approximately 500 Mediterranean Monk
Seals remain in the wild. Appendix I Iisting
commits member states to ban seal hunting
and capture and to conserve its habitat
to counteract factors impeding migration.
This includes surveying other threat factors
as well as preventing disturbance to the
species.
Monk Seal populations play an important
role in coastal and marine ecosystems. But
natural phenomena and the development of
human activities have significantly reduced
them. The Eastern Atlantic Populations of
the Mediterranean Monk Seal greatly suffer
from entanglement and mortality in fishing
gears, over fishing, hunting and human persecution,
pollution, as well as from natural factors
such as toxic phytoplankton. In addition,
destruction of breeding sites and collapsing
breeding cave further accelerate habitat
loss. As a result of the alarming conservation
status – no more than 500 seals remain in
the Mediterranean and along the Eastern
Atlantic coastline - IUCN has classified
the species as Critically Endangered.
The species has disappeared from most of
its distribution range, except for a few
isolated groups. There are two breeding
colonies of Mediterranean Monk Seal in the
Eastern Atlantic: one on the Desertas Islands
(Madeira) and the other on the Cabo Blanco
Peninsula (Morocco-Mauritania). Since the
colonies are probably isolated demographically
and genetically with less than 200 seals
each concentrated along a few kilometres
of coastline, experts regard its status
in the Atlantic as very critical.
Over the last years, an Action Plan for
the Conservation of the Eastern Atlantic
Monk Seal was elaborated and finally approved
at the Eighth Meeting of the Conference
of the Parties to CMS, held in Nairobi,
Kenya in November 2005. CMS Executive Secretary
Robert Hepworth said: "The Action Plan
provides a new focus for cross-border Monk
Seal conservation by identifying the obligations
of the range states. It is the first time
that Monk Seal conservation actions in the
Atlantic region have been approached in
a spirit of international co-operation.
This instrument is a significant step towards
improving the conservation status and the
habitat of the Eastern Atlantic Monk Seal
throughout its range in cooperation with
the four signatory states."
The Action Plan lays down the procedures
to implement co-ordinated actions. It provides
a means to combine programs from different
states, local and private organizations
into efficient, co-ordinated efforts, which
should lead to the recovery of the depleted
population of the species. The immediate
goal is to stop the decline and, in medium
term, promote recovery.
The Action Plan will include measures to
evaluate the status and threats to Monk
Seals and increase Monk Seal populations.
The main action is the creation of a Network
of Special Areas of Conservation for the
Monk Seal (SACMS) to help restore populations.
Increased liaison and coordination between
the Barcelona Convention and CMS is expected
to promote the conservation of the species.
CMS and its partners are looking forward
to seeing recovery for the situation of
the Monk Seal. The CMS Secretariat is confident
that the new agreement will prevent the
only pinniped in the Mediterranean from
becoming extinct.
