Bonn, 17 August 2007 - A delegation from the Russian Federation headed by Dr Amirkhan M. Amirkhanov, Deputy Director at the Ministry of Natural Resources, visited the Secretariats of CMS and its Agreements in Bonn today.

Next to representatives of CMS, ASCOBANS and EUROBATS, the Executive Secretary of AEWA, Mr. Bert Lenten delivered a presentation on the activities of AEWA and on the importance of Russia becoming a Party to the Convention and its daughter Agreements.

The Russian Federation is an important range state for many species that are listed on both the AEWA and CMS Appendices. For example, breeding grounds of the critically endangered Slender-billed Curlew, which is covered by a MoU and AEWA, are presumably located on Russian territory. To date, the Russian Federation has signed the MoU on the Siberian Crane and benefits from its involvement through a major GEF project.

During his visit, Mr. Armirkhanov was confident of the Russian Federation acceding to the Convention by COP 9 in December 2008 and subsequently to the CMS Agreements. He stressed that in particular AEWA is of interest for the Russian Federation. Both parties agreed to pave the way for the Russian accession in the near future.