The CITES Secretariat shares with you the sad news of the passing of Dr. Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a sister convention to CITES.
Bradnee was instrumental in promoting stronger cooperation of CMS with other biodiversity-related Conventions, including CITES. CITES Secretary-General, Ivonne Higuero, said, “it fills me with sorrow to learn of the passing of our dear colleague and friend, Bradnee. A committed and innovative thinker, Bradnee worked diligently to enhance the partnership between CMS and CITES and further develop our joint work. He will be sorely missed by all of us here at the CITES Secretariat.”
Under the leadership of Bradnee, CITES and CMS worked closely at many different levels. During his tenure with CMS, the two Conventions agreed on a Joint Work Programme 2015-2020 and also shared the post of a CITES-CMS interagency officer for the period from July 2015 to February 2018. Today, the two Conventions successfully work together on a number of issues and species that are common to both Conventions, such as bottle-nosed dolphins, gorillas, saiga antelopes, snow leopards, marine turtles, sharks and sturgeons. Bradnee was also instrumental in the establishment of the Joint CMS-CITES African Carnivores Initiative and was an important supporter of the global celebration of UN World Wildlife Day.
The CITES Secretariat offers sincere condolences to his family, our colleagues in the CMS Secretariat and all others touched by this sad loss for the environmental community.
CITES Secretariat
24 January 2019