©Rene Czudek

Background

In 2011, the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) asked the Executive Secretary to “explore options for the development of a collaborative partnership on sustainable wildlife management to enhance cooperation and coordination for implementation of the recommendations of the Liaison Group on Bushmeat, and to report to the Conference of the Parties at its eleventh meeting.”

Organizations instead suggested a broader scope, to promote not only the recommendations of the Liaison Group on Bushmeat, but also to focus on terrestrial vertebrates. This was seen as an appropriate purpose and scope for the CPW, since a variety of different stakeholders and communities of interest are concerned with terrestrial wildlife as distinct from marine fisheries and marine mammal management issues.

In September 2012, at the margins of the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Korea, a group of interested organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) met to discuss options for advancing the idea of a collaborative partnership on sustainable wildlife management. Then, the 2012 World Conservation Congress also officially supported, in its Resolution 119, establishment of a voluntary Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management.

In October 2012, COP11 of the CBD requested the Executive Secretary to liaise with relevant organizations with a view to facilitating the early establishment of a CPW (Decision XI/25, paragraph 15 (f), with initial focus on bushmeat. This partnership was to be based on considerations set out in paragraph 25 of a report on options for the development of a collaborative partnership on sustainable wildlife management (UNEP/CBD/COP/11/29).

In a follow-up meeting held in Hyderabad on 18 October 2012, interested organizations including CBD, CIC, FAO, and IUCN discussed options for moving forward and FAO offered to host the Secretariat for the CPW so as to provide the technical and operational support required for its establishment and functioning. Subsequently, the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management was established and at its inaugural meeting in Bangkok in March 2013 members defined the Terms of Reference  of the CPW and the Secretariat