31 May 2007 - Cambridge,
UK/Gland, Switzerland – The European Union
tops the list for major importer of many
wild animal and plant products, including
tropical timber, caviar, reptile skins and
live reptiles, according to a new report
by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring
network.
The report, Opportunity or threat: The
role of the European Union in the global
wildlife trade, is the first ever analysis
looking at the volume and scope of wildlife
trade products imported into the EU.
“As EU membership has expanded, so has
the size of the market and demand for wildlife
products,” said Rob Parry-Jones, Head of
TRAFFIC Europe.
“While much wildlife trade is legal, we
cannot ignore the growing illegal trade
stemming from the demand for exotic pets,
timber and other wildlife products. This
is a serious threat to the survival of species
such as reptiles and sturgeons.”
Between 2003 and 2004, EU enforcement authorities
made over 7,000 seizures of shipments without
legal permits, totaling over 3.5 million
specimens listed under the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The legal trade of wildlife products into
the EU alone was worth an estimated €93
billion in 2005. Wildlife products imported
intto the EU include caviar from the Caspian,
snakeskin handbags and shoes, rare reptiles
as pets, as well as snooker cues made of
ramin, a tropical hardwood tree from South-east
Asia.
TRAFFIC estimates that from 2000–2005,
3.4 million lizards, 2.9 million crocodiles,
and 3.4 million snake skins — all species
listed under CITES — were imported into
the EU, along with 300,000 live snakes for
the pet trade.
During the same period, the EU imported
424 tonnes of sturgeon caviar — more than
half of all global imports — and in 2004
alone, it imported more than 10 million
cubic metres of tropical timber from Africa,
South America and Asia, worth €1.2 billion.
According to WWF and TRAFFIC, well-regulated
and legal trade can bring benefits to local
people, local economies and conservation.
For example, the EU imports 95 per cent
of vicuña wool, providing significant
income for 700,000 people in impoverished
Andean communities. Vicuña is a wild
relation of the llama that is sheared and
its wool is exported under CITES rules from
Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile. Sustainable
development of the vicuña wool trade
has been supported by Italy, Germany and
the European Commission.
“The demand for wildlife products in the
EU is having a huge impact on wildlife and
people in all corners of the world,” said
Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF's Global
Species Programme. “The EU has a key role
in ensuring excessive demand does not cause
over-exploitation of wildlife outside its
borders and a responsibility to help countries
manage their resources.”
More than 170 governments will meet in
the Netherlands from 3–15 June for the triennial
CITES Conference of the Parties, the first
ever to be held in the EU.
WWF and TRAFFIC believe the EU should lead
the way in providing external assistance
to countries where wildlife products originate
and ensure their trade is sustainable.
END NOTES:
• TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring
network, works to ensure that trade in wild
plants and animals is not a threat to the
conservation of nature. TRAFFIC is a joint
programme of WWF and IUCN – The World Conservation
Union.
• CITES is an international agreement that
regulates global wildlife trade. At this
year’s meeting, governments will discuss
changes to the list of species protected
under the convention, as well as other aspects
of implementation of the treaty and controls
on wildlife trade.
• In December 2006, EU Environment Ministers
formally acknowledged the need for EU assistance
in promoting the conservation and sustainable
use of wildlife in developing countries
and effective implementation of the CITES
Convention (Council Conclusions, 2773rd
meeting of the Council of the European Union,
18 December 2006).
Richard Thomas, Communications Coordinator
TRAFFIC International
Joanna Benn, Communications Manager
WWF Global Species Programme
+ More
TV spot urges rejection of the reopening
of China tiger trade
29 May 2007 - In advance of the world’s
largest wildlife trade meeting next week,
35 organisations have launched a powerful,
4-minute television spot urging China to
keep its ban on tiger trade.
One of the UK’s leading actors, Martin
Jarvis, lent his voice to the spot, which
details the consequences that reopening
legal trade would have on wild tigers. The
public service announcement can be viewed
at www.endtigertrade.org.
Investors in massive, captive tiger breeding
centers in China are putting pressure on
the Chinese government to lift its successful
14-year-old ban on trade in tiger parts
so they can legally sell products like tiger
bone wine and tiger meat. The topic is expected
to be discussed next week when officials
from 171 nations gather for meetings of
the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) in The Netherlands.
“Closing China’s tiger markets has helped
take the pressure off wild tiger populations
across Asia,” said Steve Trent of WildAid.
“If China lifts its ban, it will make it
open season on tigers in the wild. The crime
syndicates that control the black market
for tiger parts will use such a legal market
to ‘launder’ poached tigers through. By
keeping the ban, China will demonstrate
its continued commitment and global leadership
for tiger conservation.”
To oppose such a move, 35 environmental,
zoo and animal protection organizations,
as well as the traditional Chinese medicine
community, have joined together as the International
Tiger Coalition. The coalition is calling
for an end to trade in tiger parts and products
through increased intelligence-led law enforcement
and strengthening existing tiger trade bans.
"Next week, we'll be at CITES urging
the 171 governments there to speak up for
one of the world's most endangered and most
hunted animals," said Dr. Susan Lieberman,
director of WWF's Global Species Programme.
"It is time for world leaders to act
clearly and strongly to oppose any resumption
of tiger trade anywhere."
Tiger supporters can take action at www.endtigertrade.org.
