CCF at CMS CoP15 – Cross Border Protection for Cheetahs

Side Event Title: Cross Border Protection for Cheetahs
Date & Time: March 23, 2026, 13:45–14:30
Location: Room 3, Bosque Expo – CMS CoP15 venue, Campo Grande, Brazil
Room capacity: Up to 80 participants (theatre-style seating)
Organized by: Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) and partners

Description: CCF and partners invite CoP participants to a side event offering an overview of cross-border protection needs for cheetahs — ranging from illegal trafficking and Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) to cross-border community work and harmonization of legislation.

Programme:

1. Cheetah as a migratory species across borders — Dr. Laurie Marker (Introduction)
2. The need for legal protection across borders — Clara (covering the legislation project by CCF, Legal Atlas, and CMS)
3. Current status of TFCAs within cheetah range — Speaker TBD (KAZA TFCA representative)
4. Looking to the future — cross-border actions underway and planned:
• Cross-border enforcement and training through LICIT + LICIT II (Somaliland–Ethiopia border) — Laurie/Ed
• Potential for Horn of Africa TFCAs and Conservancies — Kumara (including the 60th anniversary of EWCA)

Why This Event, Why Now

CMS CoP15 convenes March 23–29, 2026 at Bosque Expo in Campo Grande, Brazil, under the theme “Connecting Nature to Sustain Life.” It is the first CMS CoP hosted in Brazil and will bring together governments, scientists, conservationists, Indigenous peoples, and civil society to address urgent threats to migratory species worldwide.

Cheetahs are squarely on the agenda. Zimbabwe has submitted a proposal to include cheetah populations of Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia on CMS Appendix I and II, the last remaining cheetah populations not yet covered by the Convention’s highest level of protection. If adopted, it would bring the entire species under full CMS protection. Most of the roughly 4,297 cheetahs in the Southern African population are part of a single transboundary population stretching across multiple countries, making cross-border cooperation essential to their survival.

The need is urgent. Cheetah trafficking in the Horn of Africa has reached crisis levels, with annual figures since 2020 running 60% higher than the previous decade. Around 300 cubs are illegally captured each year in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, Somalia, and Somaliland to supply the illegal pet trade. The causal factors on the supply side are complex, driven by poverty, human-wildlife conflict, and enforcement gaps across porous borders. Meanwhile, only an estimated 2,290 cheetahs remain in the Horn of Africa wildlands.

CoP15’s broader agenda reinforces these themes: delegates will consider strengthening ecological connectivity, combating illegal take and overexploitation, and advancing the Samarkand Strategic Plan for Migratory Species (2024–2032). CCF’s side event brings these global priorities into sharp focus through the lens of cheetah conservation, highlighting the on-the-ground work in cross-border enforcement, Transfrontier Conservation Areas, legal harmonization, and community engagement that turns policy commitments into action.

Broader CMS CoP15 context: The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species runs March 23–29, 2026 in Campo Grande, Brazil. Key cheetah-relevant agenda items at this CoP include Zimbabwe’s cheetah population being proposed for uplisting to CMS Appendix I, progress on the African Carnivores Initiative, the Central Asian Mammals Initiative (which includes Asiatic cheetah reintroduction feasibility), and TFCAs in Eastern and Southern Africa.