Image: Halatoa Fua, Cook Islands- CMS COP15 – Earth Negotiations Bulletin
The State of the World’s Migratory Species – Interim Report underscores that migratory species are in accelerating decline globally: 24% of CMS-listed species are now assessed as globally threatened, and 49% are experiencing population declines, reflecting a worsening trend since the last Fourteenth Conference of the Parties. The report signals an urgent need to scale up coordinated international action to address the main drivers of decline—particularly habitat loss and degradation, unsustainable take, pollution, and other cumulative pressures along migratory routes
Halatoa Fua, National Environment Service (NES) Director, represented the Cook Islands in the15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15)to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), held in Campo Grande, Brazil, 23–29 March 2026.
The Cook Islands, was elected as the new Standing Committee for the CMS, in preparation for the CMS COP16 in 2029, planned to take place at the Convention’s birthday, in Bonn, Germany. Furthermore, the Cook Islands was also elected as Chair of the Budget & Finance Sub-Committee, to oversee the financial and budget policies for the whole Convention.
Halatoa Fua stated “The elected roles under CMS is signal of the Cook Islands’ sound engagement in multilateral negotiations. For the Cook Islands, migratory species conservation is inseparable from ocean health and community stewardship. COP15 was an important platform to secure practical support for Small Island Developing States and to strengthen cooperation across borders and across the Pacific.”
The Cook Islands used COP15 to advance priorities that reflect national commitments on protecting migratory marine species and their habitats across the Cook Islands and the Pacific. Reducing key threats, including marine pollution (especially plastics and abandoned fishing gear); upholding traditional knowledge and customary governance, and securing adequate, effective, transparent and predictable support for SIDS implementation—particularly for monitoring systems, community-based conservation, data management, and participation in CMS processes. The Cook Islands made multiple intervenions, including the need to strengthened flyway cooperation and improved coordination among CMS working groups and with other multilateral environmental agreements, including opportunities relevant to seabirds and marine connectivity. NES will advance implementation of the CMS COP15 outcomes at national level through the Cook Islands’ biodiversity, new legislation, and Marae Moana framework.
