IUCN Tel. +41 22 999 0000 Rue Mauverney 28 Fax +41 22 999 0002 1196 Gland [email protected] Switzerland www.iucn.org H.E. Dr. Khaled Fahmy Minister of State for Environmental Affairs 30 Misr Helwan El-Zyrae Road , –

Fax: (+202) 25256454

27 May 2013

Dear Minister Fahmy,

I have the pleasure to inform you that at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, held from 6 to 15 of September 2012 in Jeju, Republic of Korea, IUCN’s Members Assembly adopted Resolution nº 29 “Combating the illegal or unsustainable capture, trade or killing of migratory birds in the Mediterranean”.

This Resolution bears in mind that over 40% of long-distance migrants in the African-Eurasian flyway have shown signs of decline over the last three decades and a cause of this decline is their shot during the breeding season and on their migratory journey or are captured and killed using massive and indiscriminate methods on those periods.

In summary, this Resolution considers that the protection and conservation of migratory birds is a shared responsibility of all countries of origin, destination and transit. Therefore, urges all the countries of the Mediterranean basin to develop and apply migratory bird protection legislation and to support the development and implementation, under the Convention on Migratory Species, of an Action Plan for the conservation of African-Eurasian migratory birds and their habitats throughout the flyway.

Please find enclosed the full text of the Resolution “Combating the illegal or unsustainable capture, trade or killing of migratory birds in the Mediterranean”. IUCN, and the Scientific Commissions, will be pleased to promote and cooperate with efforts to eradicate illegal or unsustainable bird capture, trade and killing of migratory birds, in collaboration with the Governments and International Conventions.

Please be informed that the Center for Mediterranean Cooperation, located in Malaga (Spain), has been appointed as focal point of the IUCN Secretariat for monitoring and coordinating the implementation of this Resolution and to provide the support that authorities from the countries of the Mediterranean basin might require to achieve these objectives.

Yours sincerely,

Julia Marton-Lefèvre General Director

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE printed on FSC paper