1991 - 2006. EUROBATS celebrates its 15th anniversary

10
EUROBATS Publication Series No 1 Messages
Welcome address from CMS
by Robert Hepworth
When I was asked to write a short
foreword to this anniversary pu-
blication, I decided to go through
my old EUROBATS file. I was surprised to
discover that I had kept correspondence
from 1987, including an invitation to attend
a first meeting to discuss an „Agreement
on European Species of Chiroptera“, to be
held on 18-20 November 1987 in London.
My curiosity was aroused, and I ended up
reading the minutes of that meeting, including
the speech delivered to the gathering
by Judith Johnson, my predecessor at the
time at the CMS Secretariat.
Her speech now sounds like a prediction.
These discussions, she said, were particularly
important because, for the first time,
an Agreement specified by the Conference
of the Parties to the Bonn Convention was
to be discussed in detail by potential Range
States. The task was not an easy one, because
the number of species and Range
States involved was considerable, although
clearly the problems and the environmental
threats were similar for all European
bats. The product of these discussions, she
continued, might well become a model for
similar Agreements under the Convention
concerning other animals and other geographic
regions, and therefore a careful balance
between essential detail, workability
and simplicity must be sought.
Almost 20 years later, 1 from the signing
of the Agreement, we can say with confidence
that this vision has turned out to be
an accurate prophecy.
Launching EUROBATS
EUROBATS has been the first fruitful and
effective spin-off of the Convention, a first
offspring, delivered within the Convention
on Migratory Species after a long labour.
EUROBATS contributed to the strengthening
of the CMS identity among the growing
number of Multilateral Environmental
Agreements developed before and after
the Rio meeting in 1993. In addition, as predicted
20 years ago, EUROBATS became
the model for a series of other Agreements
under the aegis of the Convention — Agreements
that enhance the Convention’s role in
promoting the biodiversity agenda.
Fifteen years ago, seven countries, currently
still very active within EUROBATS,
signed the agreement, which came into
force in January 1991. Since then, 24 more
Parties have joined and a number of activities
has been set up. At the first Meeting of
the Parties, the Secretariat was established
and based in Bonn with CMS. Proximity is
however only one of the reasons for the
productive partnership between CMS and
EUROBATS. In addition, the strong ties between
the Secretariats and the good cooperative
spirit driving our work constitute a
historic alliance, recently energized further
by a common vision and a strategy for the
CMS Family of Agreements.
The first Meeting of Parties also gave
birth to a EUROBATS international Action
Plan and an Advisory Committee charged
with carrying out the Plan’s agenda. This
committee is currently busily engaged in