The Joint Meeting of the Bern Convention Network of Special Focal Points on Eradication of Illegal Killing, Trapping and Trade in Wild Birds (IKB) and the CMS Intergovernmental Task Force on Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean (MIKT) took place virtually from 9 to 11 June 2021 and brought together representatives of 26 countries and 37 international and national observer organisations.

As in previous years, the Bern Convention and the CMS Secretariats joined forces to organise this meeting which took stock of the progress made in combating IKB throughout the Bern Convention and MIKT contracting parties, members and observers since the last Joint Meeting held in Rome in 2019. Among other topics, a report of the programme of work for the period 2016-2020 was discussed, as well as first steps towards the implementation of the Rome Strategic Plan 2020-2030, adopted by Bern Convention Parties in 2019 and by MIKT countries in 2020. An update on the responses to the 2nd Scoreboard to assess the progress in combating IKB submissions of 2020 was also provided. The Scoreboard to assess the progress in combating IKB is a self- assessment framework jointly developed in 2017 by the Secretariats of the Bern Convention and the Convention on Migratory Species.

We are also happy to announce that scoreboard original data, as submitted by national governments in the first and second reporting rounds (2018 and 2020), is now publicly available for consultation on our website.  The Bern Convention and the CMS Secretariats warmly thank the 20 national governments that agreed to have their data shared on the website, hoping this will facilitate international cooperation and coordination among stakeholders to eradicate the illegal killing, taking and trade of birds and develop further the understanding of the scope and scale of this dramatic threat to migratory birds.