Νόμοι — ΦΕΚ A' 10/2023

The geographic scope of this Agreement is the area of the migration systems of African-Eurasian waterbirds, as defined in Annex 1 to this Agreement, hereafter referred to as the "Agreement Area".

For the purpose of this Agreement: (a) "Convention" means the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, 1979; (b) "Convention Secretariat" means the body established under Article IX of the Convention; (c) "Waterbirds" means those species of birds that are ecologically dependent on wetlands for at least part of their annual cycle, have a range which lies entirely or partly within the Agreement Area and are listed in Annex 2 to this Agreement; (d) "Agreement secretariat" means the body established under Article VI, paragraph 7, subparagraph (b), of this Agreement; (e) "Parties" means, unless the context otherwise indicates, Parties to this Agreement; and (f) "Parties present and voting" means the Parties present and casting an affirmative or negative vote; those abstaining from voting shall not be counted amongst the Parties present and voting. In addition, the terms defined in Article I, subparagraphs 1(a) to (k), of the Convention shall have the same meaning, mutatis mutandis, in this Agreement.

This Agreement is an AGREEMENT within the meaning of Article IV, paragraph 3, of the Convention. ARTICLE II Fundamental Principles

Parties shall take co-ordinated measures to maintain migratory waterbird species in a favourable conservation status or to restore them to such a status. To this end, they shall apply within the limits of their national jurisdiction the measures prescribed in Article III, together with the specific actions determined in the Action Plan provided for in Article IV, of this Agreement.

In implementing the measures prescribed in paragraph 1 above, Parties should take into account the precautionary principle. ARTICLE III General Conservation Measures

The Parties shall take measures to conserve migratory waterbirds, giving special attention to endangered species as well as to those with an unfavourable conservation status.

To this end, the Parties shall: (a) accord the same strict protection for endangered migratory waterbird species in the Agreement Area as is provided for under Article III, paragraphs 4 and 5, of the Convention; (b) ensure that any use of migratory waterbirds is based on an assessment of the best available knowledge of their ecology and is sustainable for the species as well as for the ecological systems that support them; (c) identify sites and habitats for migratory waterbirds occurring within their territory and encourage the protection, management, rehabilitation and restoration of these sites, in liaison with those bodies listed in Article IX, paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Agreement, concerned with habitat conservation; (d) coordinate their efforts to ensure that a network of suitable habitats is maintained or, where appropriate, re-established throughout the entire range of each migratory waterbird species concerned, in particular where wetlands extend over the area of more than one Party to this Agreement; measures for loss of habitat; (f) cooperate in emergency situations requiring international concerted action and in identifying the species of migratory waterbirds which are the most vulnerable to these situations as well as cooperate in developing appropriate emergency procedures to provide increased protection to these species in such situations and in the preparation of guidelines to assist individual Parties in tackling these situations; (g) prohibit the deliberate introduction of non-native waterbird species into the environment and take all appropriate measures to prevent the unintentional release of such species if this introduction or release would prejudice the conservation status of wild flora and fauna; when non-native waterbird species have already been introduced, the Parties shall take all appropriate measures to prevent these species from becoming a potential threat to indigenous species; (h) initiate or support research into the biology and ecology of migratory waterbirds including the harmonization of research and monitoring methods and, where appropriate, the establishment of joint or cooperative research and monitoring programmes; (i) analyze their training requirements for, inter alia, migratory waterbird surveys, monitoring, ringing and wetland management to identify priority topics and areas for training and cooperate in the development and provision of appropriate training programmes; (j) develop and maintain programmes to raise awareness and understanding of migratory waterbird conservation issues in general and of the particular objectives and provisions of this Agreement; (k) exchange information and results from research, monitoring, conservation and education programmes; and (l) cooperate with a view to assisting each other to implement this Agreement, particularly in the areas of research and monitoring.

An Action Plan is appended as Annex 3 to this Agreement. It specifies actions which the Parties shall undertake in relation to priority species and issues, under the following headings, consistent with the general conservation measures specified in Article III of this Agreement: (a) species conservation; (b) habitat conservation; (c) management of human activities; (d) research and monitoring; (e) education and information; and (f) implementation.

The Action Plan shall be reviewed at each ordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties, taking into account the Conservation Guidelines.

Any amendment to the Action Plan shall be adopted by the Meeting of the Parties, taking into consideration the provisions of Article III of this Agreement.

The Conservation Guidelines shall be submitted to the Meeting of the Parties for adoption at its first session, and shall be regularly reviewed.

Each Party shall: (a) designate the Authority or Authorities to implement this Agreement which shall, inter alia, monitor all activities that may have impact on the conservation status of those migratory waterbird species of which the Party is a Range State; (b) designate a contact point for the other Parties, and communicate without delay its name and address to the Agreement secretariat to be circulated forthwith to the other Parties; and (c) prepare for each ordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties, beginning with the second session, a report on its implementation of the Agreement with particular reference to the conservation measures it has undertaken. The format of such reports shall be determined by the first session of the Meeting of the Parties and reviewed as may be necessary at any subsequent session of the Meeting of the Parties. Each report shall be submitted to the Agreement secretariat not less than one hundred and twenty days before the ordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties for which it has been prepared, and copies shall be circulated forthwith to the other Parties by the Agreement secretariat.

(a) Each Party shall contribute to the budget of the Agreement in accordance with the United Nations scale of assessment. The contributions shall be restricted to a maximum of 25 per cent of the total budget for any Party that is a Range State. No regional economic integration organization shall be required to contribute more than 2.5 per cent of the administrative costs. (b) Decisions relating to the budget and any changes to the scale of assessment that may be found necessary shall be adopted by the Meeting of the Parties by consensus.

The Meeting of the Parties may establish a conservation fund from voluntary contributions of Parties or from any other source for the purpose of financing monitoring, research, training and projects relating to the conservation, including protection and management, of migratory waterbirds.

Parties are encouraged to provide training and technical and financial support to other Parties on a multilateral or bilateral basis to assist them in implementing the provisions of this Agreement.

The Meeting of the Parties shall be the decision-making body of this Agreement.

The Depositary shall, in consultation with the Convention Secretariat, convene a session of the Meeting of the Parties not later than one year after the date of the entry into force of this Agreement. Thereafter, the Agreement secretariat shall convene, in consultation with the Convention Secretariat, ordinary sessions of the Meeting of the Parties at intervals of not more than three years, unless the Meeting of the Parties decides otherwise. Where it is possible to do so, such sessions should be held in conjunction with the ordinary meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.

On the written request of at least one third of the Parties, the Agreement secretariat shall convene an extraordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties.

The United Nations, its Specialized Agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency, any State not a Party to the Agreement, and the secretariats of international conventions concerned inter alia with the conservation, including protection and management, of migratory waterbirds may be represented by observers in sessions of the Meeting of the Parties. Any agency or body technically qualified in such conservation matters or in research on migratory waterbirds may also be represented at sessions of the Meeting of the Parties by observers, unless at least one third of the Parties present object.

Only Parties have the right to vote. Each Party shall have one vote, but regional economic integration organizations which are Parties to this Agreement shall, in matters within their competence, exercise their right to vote with a number of votes equal to the number of their Member States which are Parties to the Agreement. A regional economic integration organization shall not exercise its right to vote if its Member States exercise theirs, and vice versa.

Unless provided otherwise in this Agreement, decisions of the Meeting of the Parties shall be adopted by consensus or, if consensus cannot be achieved, by a two-thirds majority of the Parties present and voting.

At its first session, the Meeting of the Parties shall: (a) adopt its rules of procedure by consensus; (b) establish an Agreement secretariat within the Convention Secretariat to perform the secretariat functions listed in Article VIII of this Agreement; (c) establish the Technical Committee provided for in Article VII of this Agreement; (e) adopt criteria to define emergency situations which require urgent conservation measures, and determine the modalities for assigning responsibility for action to be taken.