International connections

International Consultative Status

The European Cetacean Society advises governments within Europe and the European Parliament/Commission on request and of its own accord. It also advises the EC, UNEP, Bonn and Barcelona Conventions, ASCOBANS and environmental groups such as WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. To facilitate this very important role of the Society, members are requested to take a seat in such work groups by the society's Council. Members play an important role in defining the position of the Society (which represents the members of course) by participating in the society's discussions on often quite sensitive political matters: environment and species protection, research and science, whale hunt, bycatch, handling captive cetaceans and seals and many more topics.

The ECS has been asked to become a consultative partner in DolphinFund, an international partnership. DolphinFund started under the United nations' (UNEP CMS) 2007 Year of the Dolphin. This partnership of national and international organisations for marine mammal conservation aims to identify and (financially) support initiatives for a rich, healthy, clean and productive marine environment, in other words: research and other projects. The ECS is partner here to provide a science platform, both to reach out to its members to inform them of opportunities as well as providing DolphinFund with a much needed network of scientists, institutes and other organisations all over Europe.

For the same purpose, members of international and national bodies become a member of the ECS or their organisations apply for institutional membership.

Accobams

The ECS has an official status for ACCOBAMS . ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area) is a tool based on cooperation for the conservation of biodiversity. It results from consultation between the Secretariats of the Conventions of Bern, Bonn, Bucharest and Barcelona. It was signed in 1996 and entered into force in 2001. It includes 18 Parties: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine. Its structure is made up of a Meeting of the Parties, a Permanent Secretariat, a Bureau, a Scientific Committee and two Sub-Regional Coordination Units (Rac/Spa for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Commission for the Black Sea). ACCOBAMS aims to grant full protection to cetaceans by applying a Conservation Plan and by developing strong cooperation between Countries.

The ACCOBAMS Secretariat is pleased to inform you that the database of individuals, research groups, projects and whale-watching activities is now available on the ACCOBAMS website. This represents a priceless tool to spread information, stimulate new partnerships within the ACCOBAMS Area and potential synergistic research activities. Your contribution to this database will be highly appreciated.

Ascobans

The ECS has a representative status at ASCOBANS. The Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS) was concluded in 1991 under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS or Bonn Convention) and entered into force in 1994. In February 2008, an extension of the agreement area came into force which changed the name to 'Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas'.The Secretary General of the United Nations has assumed the functions of Depository of the Agreement. ASCOBANS is open for accession by all Range States (i.e. any state that exercises jurisdiction over any part of the range of a species covered by the Agreement or whose flag vessels engage in operations adversely affecting small cetaceans in the Agreement area) and by regional economic integration organisations.

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Other societies

The ECS maintains excellent contacts with other marine mammal organisations, such as the EAAM en the SMM. While the society recognises that different societies each have a different background, finding what binds us is more important than emphasis on the difference. Together the societies can support each other in important issues such as underwater sound disturbance, drift nets or the risk of operating high speed ferries. Many ECS member are also member of other societies and the members of Council are requested to take part in other conferences and the other way around.

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National Contact Persons

Furthermore, the ECS is glad to have local (national) assistance from the so-called national contact persons or NCPs. They are ECS members that represent the ECS in their contacts with (potential) members.

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