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The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS or Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range. The CMS lists threatened migratory species on two Appendices:

Appendix I - Endangered migratory species: Migratory species that have been categorized as being in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant proportion of their range.
Appendix II - Migratory species conserved through Agreements: Migratory species that have an unfavourable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organised by tailored agreements.

The CMS came into force in 1983 with three procellariiform seabird species included in its Appendix I:  Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus, Bermuda Petrel or Cahow Pterodroma cahow and Galapagos Petrel P. phaeopygia.  Subsequently, the CMS has recognized the Hawaiian Petrel P. sandwichensis (previously considered a subspecies of the Galapagos Petrel) as a full species and thus added it to Appendix I.

In 1997 at the Fifth Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the CMS, held in Geneva, Switzerland the Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis was added to Appendix I and 12 other albatross species were added to Appendix II (note that taxonomic changes have increased this list so that all 22 species of albatrosses recognized by ACAP (and by BirdLife International) are now listed by the CMS).

At the 6th COP in 1999 (Cape Town, South Africa) the two giant petrels Macronectes spp. and the five Procellaria petrels were added to Appendix II.  These seven species are all listed within ACAP.  The next CoP (7th, Bonn, Germany 2002) added the Pink-footed Shearwater Puffinus creatopus and the Peruvian Diving Petrel Pelecanoides garnoti to Appendix I.

The last procellariiform species added to CMS appendices were the Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus and Henderson Petrel Pterodroma atrata, both added to Appendix I at the 8th CoP, held in Nairobi, Kenya in 1995, bringing the total number of recognized species currently listed by the CMS to 36 (click here).  The Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater was added to ACAP at its 4th Meeting of Parties, held in Lima, Peru in 2011, following its successful nomination by Spain.

Of the 36 CMS species, 30 are currently listed within the Albatross and Petrel Agreement (click here).  Of the six species not listed, Chile has been active in the last year holding meetings to prepare supporting text to nominate its endemic and Vulnerable Pink-footed Shearwater and Ecuador signalled its desire in 2011 at the 6th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee to work towards the nomination of its endemic and Critically Endangered Galapagos Petrel to ACAP.

Of the remaining four CMS-listed procellariiform seabirds not listed by ACAP, three are endemic to Parties to ACAP (the Endangered Bermuda and Endangered Henderson Petrels: United Kingdom and the Endangered Peruvian Diving Petrel: Chile and Peru).  The remaining species, the Vulnerable Hawaiian Petrel, is endemic to the USA, which is not as yet a Party to the Agreement (click here).

A 2008 review identified the Endangered Peruvian Diving Petrel as a potential candidate species for inclusion within ACAP.  The review also considered the Bermuda and Hawaiian Petrels were close to being considered candidate species, based on the scoring system used.

Pink-footed Shearwater.  Photograph by Peter Hodum

Reference:

Cooper, J. & Baker, G.B. 2008.  Identifying candidate species for inclusion within the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.  Marine Ornithology 36: 1-8 + appendices.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 6 January 2013