CMS is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as CMS or the Bonn Convention, aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is one of a small number of intergovernmental treaties concerned with the conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitats on a global scale. Since the Convention's entry into force on 1 November 1983, its membership has grown steadily to include 116 Parties from Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
As a treaty under the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Bonn Convention provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of whales and dolphins, marine turtles, sharks elephants gorillas and migratory birds. They all rely on different habitats during theirlifecycle. Since theycrossstate borders during their migrations, their protectionrequires international collaboration.The Convention brings together the states through which migratory animals pass, and lays the legal foundation for conservation measures throughout the species’ migratory range. CMS acts as a framework convention, providing for separate, international legally binding instruments and other agreements among range states of single migratory species orgroups of species.