International Advocacy on Biodiversity Conservation By Vincent Gudmia Mfonfu Head of the Media & External Relations Department - LAGA Aim of the Presentation Share with LAGA staff some experiences in  international advocacy in wildlife conservation and sustainable management. Important because LAGA now has an  interest in inter-ministerial, intergovernmental and international meetings E.g. The first intergovernmental meeting on ape conservation that held in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2005 The 13th Conference of Parties (CoP) of CITES Intergovernmental meeting held in Limbe in 2007 to put pressure on the repatriation of the Cameroon’s gorillas from South Africa Provide a rough idea of how the international  policy process works Provide some practical suggestions for  promoting NGO concerns in international negotiations and meetings Background International Cooperation is important and  necessary to combat cross-border illegal wildlife trade which today ranks 3rd after the world illicit trade in drugs and arms. International negotiations on this issue must  break new ground and find innovative and radical solutions Governments can’t solve problems on their own  Civil society, NGOs and concerned citizens have  a part to play NGO Role NGOs have as main role to bring international  negotiations closer to local communities This is important because most citizens find it  difficult to deal with their own governments and bureaucracies International negotiations in which governments  speak to other governments are even further removed from local people Yet these people’s lives may be significantly  affected by decisions taken at these international meetings. NGOs are uniquely positioned to bring local  experience and the voice of local communities to international policy process NGO ideas feed the evolution of international policy  and their proposals can help set international agenda Many environmental and conservation NGOs  working to protect ecosystems and species participate in international meetings. Different types of NGOs have different reasons  for their creation Some are influential because they represent  large numbers of people e.g. IUCN, and others because they have unique expertise e.g. LAGA’s unique expertise in wildlife law enforcement NGOs have observer status at international  meetings, sometimes referred to as consultative status This means NGOs have a right to attend  meetings but not closed sessions of a meeting They have a right to distribute written  statements (position papers) sometimes outside the meeting room NGOs may be allowed to make statements in  the meetings but don’t have the right to vote Only government delegates can vote  Governments Role Take decisions in international negotiations  Governments which are Parties to say CBD or  CITES form its highest decision making body Conference of Parties (CoP) to conventions meet  once a year while a smaller governing body (Council or Executive Board) of a given convention meets more frequently to deal with immediate matters Government Declarations include representatives  from different Ministries, and Foreign Ministries