Geneva,
5 October 2006 – The Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) has decided not to allow exports
of elephant ivory from Botswana (20 tonnes of
ivory), Namibia (10 tonnes) and South Africa (30
tonnes) to proceed at this time.
The sales were agreed in principle
in 2002. However, they were made conditional on
the ability of the Monitoring of Illegal Killing
of Elephants (MIKE) system to establish up-to-date
and comprehensive baseline data on elephant poaching
and population levels.
Today’s meeting of the CITES
Standing Committee (which oversees the implementation
of CITES decisions in between the major conferences)
determined that this condition has not yet been
satisfied and the sales may not go forward.
In 2004, requests by several
southern African states for annual ivory quotas
were not accepted by the Conference of the Parties
(COP) to the Convention. All legal sales of ivory
derive from existing stocks gathered from elephants
that have died as a result of natural causes or
culling. Today the elephant populations of southern
Africa are listed on Appendix II of the Convention
(which manages trade through a permit system,
although elephants have zero quotas) while most
other elephant populations are listed in Appendix
I (which forbids all commercial trade).
The long-running global debate
over elephants has focused on the benefits that
income from ivory sales may bring to conservation
and to local communities living side by side with
large and often dangerous animals versus concerns
that such sales may increase poaching. The baseline
data will make it possible to determine objectively
what impact future ivory sales may have on elephant
populations and poaching.
Consisting of 15 countries representing
all regions of the world, the Standing Committee
is meeting in Geneva from 2 to 6 October (the
meeting is not open to the press). The 169 country
members to CITES will next meet at the ‘14th Meeting
of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14)’, to
be held in The Hague, the Netherlands, from 3
to 15 June 2007. The CITES Secretariat is administered
by the United Nations Environment Programme.
Note to journalists: See Standing
Committee meeting Document 26.2 at www.cites.org/eng/com/SC/54/index.shtml
and the 2002 agreement on ivory at www.cites.org/eng/cop/12/Adopted_Amendments.pdf
(pages 5 to 8). For more information please contact
Michael Williams / Juan Carlos Vasquez
Backgrounder: Understanding
CITES
Thousands of species around the world are endangered
or at risk as a result of human activities such
as habitat destruction, over-harvesting and pollution.
CITES was adopted in 1973 to address the threat
posed by just one of these activities: unsustainable
international trade. With some 166 Parties, CITES
is one of the world's most important agreements
on species conservation and the non-detrimental
use of wildlife.
Even after commercial fishing
and the timber industry are set aside, the international
trade in wildlife is big business, estimated to
be worth billions of dollars annually and to involve
more than 350 million plant and animal specimens
every year. Unregulated international trade can
push threatened and endangered species over the
brink, especially when combined with habitat loss
and other pressures.
Three ways to regulate
CITES provides three regulatory
options in the form of Appendices. Animals and
plants listed under Appendix I are excluded from
international commercial trade except in very
special circumstances. Appendix I contains almost
600 animal species and a little more than 300
plant species, including all the great apes; various
big cats such as cheetahs, the snow leopard and
the tiger; numerous birds of prey, cranes, and
pheasants; all sea turtles; many species of crocodiles,
tortoises and snakes; and some cacti and orchids.
Commercial international trade
is permitted for species listed in Appendix II,
but it is strictly controlled on the basis of
CITES permits. This Appendix II covers over 4,100
animal species and 28,000 plant species, including
all those primates, cats, cetaceans, parrots,
crocodiles and orchids not listed in Appendix
I.
Finally, Appendix III includes
species that are protected within the borders
of a member country. An Appendix III listing allows
a country to call on others to help it regulate
trade in the listed species. This Appendix lists
over 290 species.
CITES, then, does much more
than regulate trade in large charismatic mammals.
It sets up a green certification system for non-detrimental
wildlife trade (based on CITES permits and certificates),
combats illegal trade and related wildlife offences,
promotes international cooperation, and helps
to establish management plans so that range States
can monitor and sustainably manage CITES-listed
species.
CITES requires each member government
to adopt the necessary national legislation and
officially designate a Management Authority that
issues trade permits. Governments must also designate
a Scientific Authority to provide scientific advice
on imports and exports. These national authorities
are responsible for implementing CITES in close
cooperation with Customs, wildlife enforcement,
police or similar agencies.
As the impact of trade on a
population or a species increases or decreases,
the species can be added to the CITES Appendices,
removed from them, or transferred from one Appendix
to another. These decisions are to be based on
the best biological information available and
an analysis of how different types of protection
can affect specific populations.
It is worth noting that when
a species is transferred from Appendix I to Appendix
II, its protection has not necessarily been ‘downgraded’.
Rather, it can be a sign of success that a species’
population has grown to the point where well-regulated
trade may be possible. In addition, by allowing
a species to be commercially traded at sustainable
levels, an Appendix-II listing can actually improve
protection by giving local people a greater stake
in the species’ survival.
