The Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and Their Habitats, also known as the Gorilla Agreement, is a Multilateral Environmental Agreement covering all ten gorilla Range States.
Many gorilla populations are transboundary, and therefore much of the success of conservation efforts depends on transnational cooperation and coordination. With these needs in mind, the Gorilla Agreement was developed under the auspices of CMS and has been in force since the First Meeting of Parties in Rome, Italy in November 2008.
The Gorilla Agreement provides governments, IGOs, NGOs, scientists, local people and the international community at large with a legally-binding framework to maintain and restore gorilla populations and their habitats. The Agreement is administered by the CMS Secretariat on an interim basis. The Secretariat works closely with the UNEP Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and also benefits from partnerships with other organizations, including CITES and the Primate Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC).
Species covered by the Gorilla Agreement
Both species of gorilla, the Western and Eastern Gorilla, are listed under CMS, each with two subspecies:
· The Western Lowland gorilla, Gorilla gorilla gorilla
· Cross River gorilla, Gorilla gorilla diehli