due to their unfavourable conservation status. They note the exceptional significance of great apes for the natural and cultural heritage of humankind and emphasize that gorillas could significantly benefit from international cooperation through a multilateral environmental agreement. To achieve effective implementation of such an agreement, the parties acknowledge assistance must be provided to some range states for research, training and monitoring of gorillas and their habitats and for the management of those habitats. Articles The agreement contains seventeen articles; however the most important is Article III, which contains the general conservation measures. The parties to the Gorilla Agreement shall: Conserve gorillas and where feasible and appropriate, restore important habitats Prohibit the taking of gorillas (without the exceptions made in the CMS) Identify sites and habitats for the gorillas and ensure the protection, management and restoration of these sites Coordinate their efforts to ensure that a network is maintained or re-established Coordinate their activities to eradicate activities related to poaching Reinforce and support capacity building measures of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies Support initiatives to stop the spread of Ebola and to find a cure for Ebola Cooperate in emergency situations Take measures to prevent conflicts between humans and gorillas through appropriate land-use planning Cooperate in the development of appropriate training programmes for gorilla surveys, monitoring and forest conservation management Initiate or support research into the biology and ecology of gorillas Develop and maintain programmes to raise public awareness Annex I The annex indicates the geographical scope of the Gorilla Agreement, namely all range states of all species and sub-species of gorillas. These are: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda. Bodies of the agreement Meeting of the Parties The Meeting of the Parties (MoP) is the highest decision-making body of the agreement and adopts resolutions. Ordinary sessions of the MoP take place at least every three years, unless the MoP decides otherwise. Where it is possible to do so, the sessions should be held in conjunction with the ordinary meetings of the conference of the parties to CMS. On the written request of at least one third of the parties, an extraordinary session shall be convened. Only parties have the right to vote and each party has only one vote. Decisions of the MoP are usually adopted by consensus, or if consensus cannot be achieved, by a