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SOS Rhino
: In the News : Current
Rhino News :CITES to decide wildlife trade rules
and promote conservation |
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CITES to decide wildlife trade rules and promote
conservation
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From United Nations Environment Programme
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
SANTIAGO ó Decisions affecting the survival of dozens of wild
plant and animal species will be adopted at a major conference
here of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The conference, which runs from 3 to 15 November, will consider
59 proposals to amend the lists of species subject to trade
controls. The proposals range from the highly charismatic minke
whale and African elephant, to endangered Asian freshwater
turtles and Latin American parrots, to commercially valuable
bigleaf mahogany and Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass).
"CITES seeks to promote a healthier and more sustainable
relationship between people and wildlife," said CITES Secretary-
General Willem Wijnstekers. "The Santiago conference is an
opportunity to ensure that trade does no harm to plant and
animal species. It will also address national efforts to conserve
species that are not traded because they have become
threatened or endangered," he said.
"Protecting wildlife is vital to the broader goal of making
environmental conservation and poverty reduction mutually
supportive," said Klaus T–pfer, Executive Director of the United
Nations Environment Programme, which administers the CITES
Secretariat. "Its well-honed regulations and practical
programmes put CITES on the front line of sustainable
development."
One group of proposals addresses Asiaís declining freshwater
turtles, which are collected and traded as pets, food, and
medicinal preparations in Asia. The number of turtles on sale at
Chinese food markets alone is estimated between 12 and 20
million specimens annually, most of them originating from the
wild. Experts fear that many Asian turtle species will soon face
extinction. The conference will consider proposals for introducing
trade controls on 26 species of freshwater turtles.
Another high-profile item is the African elephant. After an eight-
year ban on ivory sales, in 1997 CITES agreed to allow three
African countries ‚ Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe ‚to make
one-time sales from their existing legal stocks of raw ivory. The
ivory ‚ which weighed 49,574 kg and represented 5,446 tusks ‚
was sold to Japan in 1999 and earned some USD5 million. The
funds were used for elephant conservation activities in the three
range States.
This year, the three countries plus South Africa and Zambia are
proposing one-off sales of existing ivory stocks to be followed
later by annual quotas. The proposals are for a first sale of
20,000 kg and an annual quota of 4,000 kg for Botswana,
10,000 kg and 2,000 kg respectively for Namibia, 30,000 and
2,000 for South Africa and 10,000 and 5,000 for Zimbabwe.
Zambia is proposing a one-off sale of 17,000 kg. A proposal from
India and Kenya, on the other hand, argues that further ivory
sales from African elephants should be clearly prohibited as a
precautionary measure for reducing future threats to the
elephant.
Meanwhile, Japan is seeking to open up trade in most northern
hemisphere populations of minke whale and a Pacific population
of Brydeís whale. Its proposals stress the use of national
legislation and DNA identification of individual whales to monitor
catches and trade. Similar proposals were presented without
success at the most recent CITES conferences in 1997 and
2000. This yearís debate is likely to involve issues related to
science, sustainable use, possible enforcement problems, and
the International Whaling Commissionís moratorium on
commercial whaling.
Other proposals emphasize the sustainable use of wildlife.
Sustainable use can build support for conservation among local
communities while directly raising funds for protecting
endangered species. For this reason, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile
want to expand their ability to sell the fine silky wool sheared
from live vicuÒa to include a number of additional vicuÒa
populations.
The meeting will also review measures for improving protection
for highly endangered species already protected by CITES
regulations, including rhinoceroses, bears, the tiger, musk deer,
sturgeons, the Tibetan antelope and leopards.
CITES was adopted in 1973 in Washington D.C. and will
celebrate its 30th anniversary next year on 3 March 2003.
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