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Currently, the Albatross and Petrel Agreement lists 22 species of albatrosses (family Diomedeidae) and seven petrels of the genera Macronectes and Procellaria.

In addition, nine species of shearwaters of the genera Calonectris and Puffinus have been considered as "potential candidate" species for listing within the Agreement (AC5 Inf 15).  Two of these nine are considered threatened by IUCN/BirdLife International:  the Critically Endangered Balearic P. mauretanicus  and the Vulnerable Pink-footed P. creatopus Shearwaters.

At the Fifth Meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee, held in Argentina in April 2010, France advised that in consultation with Spain it would give consideration jointly to proposing that the Balearic Shearwater be added to Annex 1 of the Agreement.  The Advisory Committee welcomed this advice and looked forward to considering the documentation, noting that a Species Assessment had been drafted by the Secretariat in 2008 (click here for the meeting's report).

In total 22 species of shearwaters are recognized, of which seven have been categorized as threatened (click here for a list).

It is now intended, in addition to these nine "potential candidate" species, to report occasionally on the remaining five threatened shearwater species in ACAP Latest News when the information available is relevant to the conservation management of ACAP-listed species.

These five species, along with their known breeding localities and threatened status, are Buller's P. bulleri (Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand, Vulnerable), Heinroth's P. heinrothi (Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, Vulnerable), Hutton's P. huttoni (Seaward Kaikoura Range, New Zealand, Endangered), Newell's P. newelli (Hawaiian Islands, USA, Endangered) and Townsend's P. auricularis (Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico, Critically Endangered).  Information on any of these species will thus be welcomed.

However, the main focus of ACAP Latest News will continue to remain firmly directed to those species currently listed within the Agreement.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 8 July 2011