Dear all, ASCOBANS, the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas<https://www.ascobans.org/en/species>, is a regional intergovernmental treaty working within the framework of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). The main focus within ASCOBANS is on reducing the unintentional entanglement of small cetaceans in fishing nets (bycatch) as well as mitigating other man-made threats, such as acoustic disturbance and marine pollution. Under the Agreement, information-sharing and outreach also play a key role in engaging both the general public and stakeholders in the conservation efforts. ASCOBANS, a UN treaty, is a non-profit organisation. In 2022, ASCOBANS will celebrate its 30th anniversary, and we are looking into producing website and social media content, hopefully also information material. In order to make our outreach efforts as representative, informative, and attractive as possible, we are asking for your input: could you look in your photo and video (and audio) archives to see if there are any you can provide the ASCOBANS Secretariat with? • We would welcome photos / footage / audio of the species occurring in the ASCOBANS region<https://www.ascobans.org/en/species>, such as the harbour porpoise, common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, beaked whales, pilot whales, (pygmy / false) killer whales. • As we are trying to cover as wide a ground as possible, we also welcome a wide range of pictures and video to go with it. Apart from beautiful ‘happy’ pictures of our photogenic small-cetaceans, we would also need some less beautiful documentation of some of the threats they face (bycatch, noise, chemical pollution, habitat degradation, prey depletion, ship strikes). • We would also be happy to receive photos / video clips of rescue operations and other conservation activities or cetacean research and outreach/education activities in the ASCOBANS region<https://www.ascobans.org/en/legalinstrument/ascobans>. • Kindly note that while for use on the website medium/smaller file sizes are sufficient, for the purposes of printed material we would need as high a resolution as possible to enable high quality prints. We will always give due credit to the photographer and/or organisation whenever we use a photo, so please include in the file name (a) the species (if known) and (b) how the image/video/audio shall be credited when applied. Should you have any particular reservations with regards to the usage of your photos/footage/audio (e.g. ok to use on the website and social media but not on printed material or PowerPoint presentations), please let us know. We are grateful to you for your assistance, and look forward to receiving your photos and video clips. Should you have any questions, please contact ascobans.secretariat@ascobans.org<mailto:ascobans.secretariat@ascobans.org>. Kind regards, Jenny Jenny Renell ASCOBANS Coordinator, CMS Aquatic Species Team Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas UN Campus, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1 53113 Bonn, Germany Tel. +49 228 815 2418, email: jenny.renell@un.org<mailto:jenny.renell@un.org> www.ascobans.org<http://www.ascobans.org/> www.cms.int<http://www.cms.int/> www.facebook.com/ascobans<http://www.facebook.com/ascobans> [cid:image001.png@01D8143C.5C76EA40] Disclaimer: The information transmitted is intended only for use by the addressee and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, dissemination or other use of it, or the taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons and/or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please inform the sender and/or addressee immediately and delete the material. Thank you.
