The President of Malta, H. E. Prof. Guido de Marco, met with Heads of UN-Agencies at the UN-Premises in Bonn 14 October. On this occasion Mr. de Marco also met with CMS Executive Secretary Mr. Arnulf Müller-Helmbrecht, AEWA Executive Secretary Mr. Bert Lenten, ASCOBANS Executive Secretary Mr. Rüdiger Strempel and Mr. Andreas Streit, Executive Secretary of EUROBATS.

The talks were held in a very friendly atmosphere. Species conservation and biodiversity issues were on the agenda. Mr. de Marco was very familiar with biodiversity issues and he displayed great interest in the implementation of the Convention. He admitted that public awareness must be raised in Malta, where the hunting of birds is very popular. Malta is located along an important flyway of migratory birds.

The former Vice President of the Independent World Commission on Oceans pointed out that dolphins, which were once numerous around Malta, have become rare. Whales and dolphins in the Mediterranean have also suffered a serious decline in populations.

Sonar systems, chemical pollution and by-catch pose additional threats to marine mammals. Mr. de Marco was confident that information on biodiversity and species conservation in Malta will be considerably improved in the near future. While Malta is already a Party to CMS, ACCOBAMS and EUROBATS, Malta’s accession to AEWA is still pending. CMS and Agreement Secretariats are convinced that Mr. De Marco will strive for the successful implementation of the Convention in Malta: He has set the course for the potential accession of Malta to the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.