Considerations on COM(2018)399 - Submission, on behalf of the EU, of a proposal for amending Annexes 2 and 3 of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA)

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dossier COM(2018)399 - Submission, on behalf of the EU, of a proposal for amending Annexes 2 and 3 of the Agreement on the Conservation of ...
document COM(2018)399 EN
date June  5, 2018
 
(1) The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ('the Agreement') was concluded by the Union by Council Decision 2006/871/EC1 and entered into force on 1 October 2005. The Agreement aims to conserve migratory waterbirds and their habitats across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Greenland and the Canadian Archipelago.

(2) As a Party to the Agreement, the Union may make proposals for amendment of the Annexes to the Agreement. Annex 2 includes the waterbird species to which the Agreement applies. Annex 3 includes the Action Plan, which specifies actions which the Parties have to undertake in relation to priority species, such as species conservation, habitat conservation, management of human activities, research and monitoring, education and information, and implementation, consistent with the general conservation measures specified in Article III of the Agreement.

(3) Croatia and Italy have proposed that the European Union submit a proposal for amending Annex 2 to the Agreement, by adding the Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis).

(4) Croatia and Italy have also proposed that the European Union submits a proposal for amending Annex 3 to the Agreement, by listing the non-EU (Barents Sea) population of Phalacrocorax aristotelis aristotelis and the EU population (East Mediterranean – Croatia, Adriatic Sea) of Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii in Column A of Table 1 of that Annex respectively, in categories 22 and 1c3).

1             OJ L 345, 8.12.2006, p. 24.

2  Pursuant to Table 1 of Annex 3 to the Agreement, Category 2 includes Populations numbering between around 10,000 and around 25,000 individuals.

3  Pursuant to Table 1 of Annex 3 to the Agreement, Category 1 includes: (a) Species, which are included in Appendix I to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory species of Wild Animals; (b) Species, which

(5) Luxemburg has proposed to move all populations of the following three species to Column A of Table 1 of Annex 3 to the Agreement: Curlew Sandpiper4 (Calidris ferruginea), Atlantic Puffin5 (Fratercula arctica) and Razorbill6 (Alca torda). While Luxemburg has not proposed any specific category for these three species, according to the criteria established in Table 1 of Annex 3 to the Agreement, the Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) and the Razorbill (Alca torda) qualify for category 47 and the Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) qualifies for category 1b8.

(6) The amendments to Annexes 2 and 3 proposed by Croatia, Italy and Luxembourg would make all populations of the Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea), Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) and Razorbill (Alca torda) subject to the requirement of Annex 3, section 2.1.1 of the Agreement, which establishes the species conservation legal measures applicable to populations of species listed in Colum A of Table 1 of Annex 3. In particular, for populations listed in Column A of Table 1, the Parties to the Agreement are to prohibit the taking of birds and eggs of those populations occurring in their territory, prohibit deliberate disturbance in so far as such disturbance would be significant for the conservation of the population concerned. By way of exception for those populations listed in Categories 2 and 3 in Column A and which are marked by an asterisk, and those populations listed in Category 4 in Column A, hunting may continue on a sustainable use basis9. This sustainable use is to be conducted within the framework of an international species action plan, through which Parties will endeavour to implement the principles of adaptive harvest management10.

(7) The Italo-Croatian proposal as well as the Luxemburgish proposals are well-founded.

They are compatible with and complementary to Union law, particularly the Directive 2009/147/EC11.

are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species, as reported in the most recent summary by BirdLife International; or (c) Populations, which number less than around 10,000 individuals.

4  Table 1 of Annex 3 to the Agreement currently lists two populations of Caladirs ferruginea: the population in Western Siberia/West Africa, listed in column B, category 2c, and the population in Central Siberia/SW Asia, E & S Africa, listed in column B, category 2c.

5  Table 1 of Annex 3 to the Agreement currently lists three populations of Fratercula arctica: the population in Hudson bay & Maine E to S Greenland, Iceland, Bear Is, Norway to S Novaya Zemlya , listed in column C, the population in NE Canada, N Greenland, to Jan Mayen, Svalbard, N Novaya Zemlya, listed in column A, category 3a, and the population in Faeroes, S Norway & Sweden, Britain, Ireland, NW France, listed in column C.

6  Table 1 of Annex 3 to the Agreement currently lists two populations of Alca torda: the population of Alca torda torda in E North America, Greenland, E to Baltic & White Seas, listed in column C, and the population of Alca torda islandica in Iceland, Faeroes, Britain, Ireland, Helgoland, NW France, listed in column C.

7  Pursuant to Table 1 of Annex 3 to the Agreement, Category 4 includes species, which are listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species, as reported in the most recent summary by BirdLife International, but do not fulfil the conditions in respect of Category 1, 2 or 3 and which are pertinent for international action.

8             Supra 15.

9  “Sustainable use” means the use of components of biological diversity in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity, thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations.

10 Adaptive harvest management is the periodic process of setting hunting regulations based on a system of population and habitat monitoring, harvest-level recording, data analysis and defining regulatory options.

11 OJ L 20 of 26.01.2010. p. 7.

(8) The proposals are science-based, in line with the Union's commitment to international cooperation for the protection of biodiversity.

(9) The species are already covered by Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds and the Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) is also listed in Annex I to that Directive. Therefore, the proposed amendments would not require any change in Union law.

(10) The Union should therefore submit those proposals to the Agreement Secretariat, in view of the seventh Meeting of the Parties, which will take place on 4 to 8 December 2018 in South Africa,

(11)