Conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity

The Conference of the Parties

1. Reiterating paragraph 7 of decision COP4/1 on Carpathian Red List of Habitats, the Carpathian Red List of Species and the Lists of Invasive and Endemic Species in the Carpathians, notes with concern the lack of progress in finalization of the Red Lists, further notes that for some Parties more work and projects are needed in order to complete them, calls upon the Parties to submit the official comments and/or positions on the Lists to the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee (hereinafter CCIC) for consideration at its next meeting, as a step forward in achieving the implementation of Article 8 and 12 of the Protocol on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological and Landscape Diversity to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians (hereinafter Biodiversity Protocol);
2. Taking into account the difficulties of the Parties to complete the adopted format of National Report on the Implementation of the Biodiversity Protocol, approves the decision of the CCIC to adopt the simplified format of the report, welcomes the submission of the report by the Parties and the summary of the reports prepared by the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (hereinafter Secretariat) and requests the CCIC at its next meeting to further consider its conclusions with the aim to strengthen the implementation of the Biodiversity Protocol in the future;
3. Welcomes the outcomes of the Conference on Large Carnivores’ Protection held on 18-21 October 2016 in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Czech Republic, namely the Declaration on the Management and Protection of Large Carnivores in the Carpathians, that among others, calls the WG Biodiversity, with support of the Secretariat, for elaboration of an International Action Plan for the Conservation and Sustainable Management for the Carpathian Populations of Large Carnivores, and expresses its gratitude to the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic for organization of the event, as well as to the German Federal Environment Ministry’s Advisory Assistance Programme for environmental protection in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia and other countries neighbouring the European Union, for their support;
4. Mandates the WG Biodiversity to prioritize its work on Large Carnivores for the next implementation period, and welcomes support offered by WWF, Eurac Research, the Sapienza University of Rome and European Wildlife Society in this respect;
5. Welcomes the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Secretariat and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (hereinafter CIC), and requests the WG Biodiversity and the Secretariat to work together with the CIC through a work plan for concrete activities, including possible harmonization of methodologies for the population based monitoring of large carnivores, to be carried out within this collaboration;
6. Taking into account the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 adopted by the 10th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in particular its headline Aichi Target 9 devoted to invasive alien species, the Recommendation No. 99 (2003) on the European Strategy on Invasive Alien Species, adopted by the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) on 4 December 2003 and the Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species, considers that invasive alien species are a great concern for the biological diversity and requests the WG Biodiversity to explore the relevance of this topic for the Carpathians, and suggest possible actions for the consideration of the CCIC at its next meeting;
7. Welcomes the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Secretariat and the Association of Natural Protected Areas Administrations (hereinafter ANPAA) signed on 20 June 2016, which aims at assisting the Secretariat with servicing the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas Unit (hereinafter CNPA Unit), and encourages the ANPAA to restore active communication with the CNPA Focal Points for carrying out concrete activities in order to implement the CNPA Medium – Term Strategy;
8. Welcomes the Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the CNPA, ALPARC and DANUBEPARKS on 12 October 2016; and encourages further cooperation on ecological connectivity, exchanges on protected areas matters, education and other specific topics common to the three networks;
9. Recognizing that Carpathian wetlands provide a wide range of ecosystem services that are important inter alia for water supply, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, acknowledging that wetlands belong to the most vulnerable habitats in the Carpathians, notes the existing synergies between the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (hereinafter Ramsar Convention) and the Carpathian Wetland Initiative (hereinafter CWI), invites the CWI to enhance cooperation and to mobilize resources in support of appropriate action on the effective conservation, restoration, management and sustainable use of Carpathian wetlands, as well as on development of education and training in these topics;
10. Welcomes and supports development of ConnectGREEN project, which focuses on the identification and management of ecological corridors in the context of spatial planning in the Danube-Carpathian region, submitted under the second call of the INTERREG Danube Transnational Programme (DTP) and appreciates the foreseen involvement of the WG Biodiversity and the WG Spatial Development, especially in respect to the development of a strategy on the identification, preservation, management of ecological corridors focusing on large carnivores' needs in the Carpathian region; welcomes the cooperation with WWF as the Lead Partner, requests the Secretariat to follow the process and, if successful, to participate in it by providing expertise through an agreement with the Lead Partner;’
11. Welcomes the final Assessment of the Wild for DC project, developed by the Secretariat with the support of the EUSDR Technical Assistance Facility for Danube Region Projects (hereinafter TAF-DRP) addressing Priority Area 06-Biodiversity and Landscape, in cooperation with WWF Danube - Carpathian Programme (hereinafter WWF DCP), the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (hereinafter ICPDR) and the Institute of Biology Bucharest - Romanian Academy, requests the Secretariat to disseminate the results of the Assessment and to work on project development on wildlife crime prevention, in cooperation with WWF DCP, WG Biodiversity and relevant stakeholders.
12. Recognizing specifically the importance of preventing illegal killing of wild birds and taking into account the international efforts in increasing and supporting synergies and cooperation among biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements, requests the WG Biodiversity to prepare a proposal of possible joint activities with the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), for the consideration by the CCIC.