1st Meeting of the Parties to ACCOBAMS Concluded

Following on the entry into force on 1^st June 2001 of the Agreement, and in accordance with its Article III, the First Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Contiguous Atlantic Area, ACCOBAMS, was called by the Depository, in consultation with the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

On the kind invitation of the Principality of Monaco, the Meeting was held from 28 February to 2 March 2002 in the Hôtel Métropole Palace in Monaco.

Representatives from the following States Party to the Agreement took part in the Meeting : Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, Georgia, Malta, Morocco, Monaco and Romania.

Representatives from the following riparian States within the Agreement’s distribution area also took part in the Meeting as observers : Bosnia Herzegovina, Egypt, France, U.K., Greece, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lebanon, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine, as well as the European Commission, which are not yet Parties to the Agreement.

Also present as observers were representatives from United Nations Organizations and Secretariats, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and the following scientific institutions or bodies: the United Nations Environment Programme, the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP/UNEP), the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA), the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS), the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Commission internationale pour l’exploration scientifique de la Méditerranée (CIESM), the Bern Convention/Council of Europe, NATO SACLANT CEN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the American Society of International Law Wildlife Interest Group (JIWLP), the Association de sauvegarde des mammifères marins (ASMA), Blue World, the European Cetacean Society (ECS), the Groupe de recherche sur les cétacés (GREC), Greenpeace, MAREVIVO, the Mediterranean Protected Areas Network (MEDPAN), SOS Grand Bleu, the Swiss Cetacean Society (SCS), the Tethys Research Institute, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-France), the Instituto Centrale per la Ricerca Scientifica e Technologica Applicata al Mare (ICRAM), the Oceanographical Museum of Monaco, BLUWEST and Whalecraft.