CITES Conference of Parties (CoP 14) - The Hague, Netherlands 3-15 June.

Key issues/proposals that will be debated, and key decisions made at CoP14 include

• African elephants, two species of sharks, whales and a number of tree species.
• Marine proposals submitted to increase protection for sawfish, two species of sharks, red coral, cardinalfish, European eel, and the Brazilian populations of spiny lobsters.
• Four proposals for the regulation of international commercial trade in tree species used for timber including Brazilwood, Spanish cedar, Honduran rosewood, and black rosewood.
• Three proposals from Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania to allow international trade in African elephant ivory
• A Proposal from Kenya and Mali to prohibit international trade in raw or worked elephant ivory for 20 years.
• Proposals submitted by Algeria to list three gazelle species and the Barbary red deer in Appendix I of CITES.
• Other proposals to address international trade in slow loris species, bobcat, black caiman, Guatemalan beaded lizard, Oconnee bells, Arizona agave, and Japanese Yew.
• The Parties will also debate trade controls on great apes, tigers, sturgeon, traditional medicines, orchids, medicinal plants, and cacti.

SPECIES NEWS…from the first week of the CITES meeting in the HAGUE

BOBCATS:
CITES overwhelmingly rejected an American proposal to remove the bobcat (Lynx rufus), one of the most trafficked cat species, from protection under the CITES Appendices. The proposal was defeated by a majority of more than two to one. Despite the fact that the USA has repeatedly tried and failed to have such a measure approved, Parties including Mexico, Serbia, Germany on behalf of the EU and India strongly opposed the measure.

Retaining the species on Appendix II provides an important trade monitoring opportunity and delivers additional protection for one of the most endangered cats in the world, the Iberian lynx, which is virtually indistinguishable in appearance. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species acknowledges that the bobcat is experiencing "a declining trend due to persecution and degradation of its habitat and prey base" and that "there is still concern over whether commercial trapping, as practiced in North America, is sustainable for the bobcat population."

SLOW LORIS:
CITES worked rapidly to increase global protection for the slow loris, an endangered primate found in tropical and subtropical forests in Southeast Asia.

"Being nocturnal and small these primates have been ignored for some time despite the serious peril confronting them throughout their range. Today's decision will dramatically reduce the enormous, unsustainable off-takes they currently experience and will contribute positively to their long-term survival," noted Dr. Sandra Altherr speaking on behalf of Pro Wildlife, a German nongovernmental organization and member of the Species Survival Network (SSN).

The Kingdom of Cambodia proposed to increase the loris' status under the Convention by transferring it from Appendix II to Appendix I, thus prohibiting all commercial trade in the species. Sadly, these endearing animals are taken by the tens of thousands to be sold as pets or used in traditional medicine. As a consequence, populations of all five species have suffered a serious decline and only recently, four slow loris species were recommended for an uplisting in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

WHALES:
Less than a week after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) voted to uphold its moratorium on commercial whaling, CITES Parties rejected an effort by whaling nations to undermine a related ban on international trade in whale products. The proposal, brought by Japan, was seen as a first step in rolling back protections for the great whale species protected from international trade by CITES. Whaling nations have tried to reopen trade fifteen times since 1997 and it was resoundingly rejected.

Japan's proposal was seen as an attempt to bypass the moratorium on commercial whaling, maintained by the IWC since 1986. Its rejection today comes on the heels of key victories for whale conservation at the 59th IWC meeting held in Anchorage, Alaska, last week. At the IWC meeting, Japan withdrew a proposal to overturn the commercial whaling ban for four coastal whaling communities after it was unable to secure the votes needed for adoption. The IWC also passed a resolution that reaffirmed the need to maintain the commercial whaling ban and called on CITES to maintain its restrictions on the whale trade.

However, despite losing by a wide margin at CITES, Japan could still bring its proposal back for reconsideration before the conference ends.

LEOPARDS and RHINOS:
In just one day, CITES Parties undermined conservation efforts for two species targeted by trophy hunters-leopards and, in particular, rhinos.

Despite a profound lack of contemporary scientific information about the population status of wild leopards in Africa, CITES supported proposals to establish or increase leopard trophy export quotas for two African nations. Delegates approved a proposal by Uganda to export 28 leopard trophies annually and Mozambique was allowed to double their quota from 60 to 120 leopard trophies each year.

Germany, speaking on behalf of the EU, supported both proposals while at the same time acknowledging that the two countries had no current statistics about leopard numbers and that the most recent figures were from 1988. Inexplicably, they said that the quota was nonetheless conservative. Setting export quotas arbitrarily without requiring sound scientific basis undermines the credibility of the Convention, endangers wild populations and sets dangerous precedents for future decisions.

A continent-wide census has never been conducted and experts consider the wild leopard population to be declining in the wild although the actual number of leopards is unknown.

In another surprising move, Parties reaffirmed their preference for sport hunting endangered black rhinos rather than re-stocking former habitat. A proposal from Kenya seeking to revoke the controversial decision taken at the last CITES CoP in Thailand, to allow both Namibia and South Africa to sell five 'surplus' male trophies, was debated briefly, then put to a vote which failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority. Two countries, Rwanda and the DRC, offered to pay a fair price for the rhinos and pay for their relocation to re-stock their national parks that have been badly hit by poaching. They hoped that the return of this charismatic species would help boost tourism, which is now booming in Rwanda. Their offer fell on deaf ears.

MAHOGANY:
The Standing Committee of CITES took the first tentative steps to address Peru's ongoing failure to comply with the Convention in protecting mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) and ensuring the long-term viability of the species. It was decided not to impose the strong international sanctions that had been advocated by many delegates and NGO observers, and accepted Peru's agreement to reduce its annual export quota.

Representatives of the SSN Timber Working Group, a global coalition of wildlife experts participating in the meeting, agreed that action needed to be taken, but concluded that the decision did not go far enough. The Group has long hoped that Peru would exhibit greater political will at the highest levels of government to verify the legality of all timber exports from the country to protect the forest and indigenous communities from illegal loggers in the Amazon.

Five years after bigleaf mahogany was included in the CITES Appendices, triggering global trade regulations on mahogany in international commerce, the volume of mahogany leaving Peru clearly violates the requirements governing export. For instance, Peru's Scientific Authority concluded that no more than 1,200 trees could be felled sustainably in 2007. In fact, more than five times that number-between 5,600 and 7,100 trees-would have to be cut to fulfil Peru's original export quota.

ELEPHANTS:
In a dramatic decision that threatens to undermine global elephant conservation, Standing Committee delegates confirmed Japan as an approved trading partner for ivory sales first agreed in a controversial 2002 decision by the CITES Parties. But in the heated debate, China was not granted the same trading status.

The CITES Secretariat determined that Japan's internal ivory market controls were sufficient, despite the serious concerns of several African nations including Kenya, Mali and Ghana. A number of African elephant range states representatives expressed their belief that the decision of the Standing Committee will be seen by poachers and international organised criminal syndicates as a green light to increase their deadly activities.

In its submission to the Committee, China stated that granting parity with Japan would create healthy competition, increase prices, and deliver greater financial benefits to ivory exporting countries. Numerous countries objected to China's request and the Standing Committee was split 50:50 in an unprecedented vote. Switzerland, the depository government of CITES, was unwilling to cast a deciding vote and the motion to approve China was not carried.

"Elephants and many African and Asian elephant range states have every reason to be fearful" said Will Travers, CEO of the Born Free Foundation and Chair of the Species Survival Network. "Today's decision belies the reality of what is happening on the ground across the globe with respect to elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade. Tens of thousands of Africa's elephants are being poached each year, thousands of kilos of illegal ivory are being regularly intercepted, and sales of unregulated ivory traded over the internet are disturbingly high. Perhaps most concerning is the fact that poaching pressure is likely to fall most intensely on those countries least able to resist and law enforcement officers are losing their lives. It's unconscionable."

John Sellar, the CITES Secretariat's Senior Enforcement Officer inexplicably indicated that increased legal trade might result in decreased poaching, a counterintuitive scenario inconsistent with historical fact. The 1989 international ivory trade ban brought about a dramatic decline in poaching and the price of ivory. Subsequent "one-off" stockpile sales and proposals to reopen trade have been closely connected to rises in poaching, illegal ivory interceptions, and the rising price of ivory such that some experts suggest things are as bad today as at any time in the last 20 years.

"This sets a bad precedent. Sponsors of the proposals to allow further trade in elephant ivory that will be considered by the full 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES in the next two weeks will undoubtedly rejoice in Japan's new trading status; meanwhile, many African and Asian elephant Range States, together with conservationists representing tens of millions of people across the globe will enter into the CITES negotiations with a sense of foreboding' said Mary Rice, Senior Elephant Campaigner with the Environmental Investigation Agency. "It's deja vu... it could be the bloody ivory trade of the 1980s all over again."

13 June 2007
World Governments Reject Tiger Farming and Trade;
A Victory for Wild Tigers, Coalition Says

The Hague, The Netherlands - Tigers should not be bred for trade in their parts, governments gathered here said today, approving a decision to strengthen conservation of wild tigers.

"This was a major victory for wild tigers, which could be quickly wiped out by poaching if there is a legal market anywhere," said Uttara Mendiratta of Wildlife Protection Society of India, on behalf of the 35 member organizations of the International Tiger Coalition. "The international community has sent a clear message that the world cannot sacrifice the last wild tigers for the sake of a handful of wealthy tiger farm investors."

The International Tiger Coalition commends delegates from four countries with wild tigers - India, Nepal, Bhutan and Russia - and the United States in standing firm on behalf of wild tiger conservation during a lengthy debate here today. The decision was adopted by consensus, but not before China tried to soften the language.

Privately run "tiger farms" across China have bred nearly 5,000 captive tigers and are putting enormous pressure on the Chinese government to allow legal trade in tiger parts within China. They argue that their captive tigers will meet the demand of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) users for tiger-bone tonic wines and medicines. But TCM practitioners worldwide have stopped using tiger bone and reject the argument that it is needed in legitimate medicines.

"The request for reopening trade does not come from TCM," Lixin Huang, president of the American College of TCM, told the forum before the decision was made. "TCM does not wish to be responsible for the extinction of wild tigers."

All international trade in tiger parts is banned by CITES, and China has banned domestic trade since 1993. The ban has proven successful in reducing demand for tiger bone and raising public awareness about tiger conservation, studies have found.

ELEPHANTS

14 June 2007 PRESS RELEASE
issued by SPECIES SURVIVAL NETWORK (SSN) of which DSWF is an active member.

GLOBAL IVORY TRADE SUSPENSION APPROVED
IS THE FUTURE SECURE FOR AFRICA'S BELEAGURED PACHYDERMS?

THE HAGUE-Government delegates today approved a compromise document to deal with the highly contentious continent-wide debate over the future of elephant conservation and the international sale of elephant ivory. After two weeks of intense deliberations, closed-door meetings, and Ministerial interventions, Parties accepted a plan to allow sale of current ivory stockpiles from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, while instituting a moratorium on further ivory trade for a period not less than nine years following the sale.

"The message must be heard across the planet today-by ivory poachers and profiteers alike-that CITES decision-makers have tired of the divisive debate over elephant ivory," said Will Travers, CEO of the Born Free Foundation and Chairman of the Species Survival Network. "Although we're surely disappointed that the controversial stockpile sales have been allowed, we are thrilled that the Parties listened to the dozens of African elephant Range States, united under Kenya's and Mali's strong leadership, and have finally agreed to an ivory trade moratorium."

The deal, struck in middle of the night Wednesday, opens a new chapter in the ongoing, decades-long ivory debate under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The ivory trade ban, which achieved such significant improvements in the security of elephants in the early 1990s has been the subject of sustained, deliberate long-term erosion for the last decade. Travers, commenting on the discussions, said, "Negotiations have been protracted and relentless and, while both sides can claim success, the acid test will be the impact on Africa's most fragile elephant populations."

Notwithstanding the efforts of various African Elephant Range State Dialogue Meetings to reach consensus, the debate thus far has divided Africa with a small number of the most highly developed African elephant Range States strongly arguing for relaxations in the trade ban, and a large number of under-resourced African elephant Range States with vulnerable elephant populations arguing for sensible continent-wide conservation programs.

Parties have broadly agreed since 1997 to maintain the global prohibition on a continuous legal ivory trade, yet have relented under significant pressure to allow limited sales from verified ivory stockpiles. Members of the Species Survival Network, however, expressed continued concern over these stockpile sales, as it is hard to say exactly what the cumulative impact of the approved trade has been and will be on elephants.

Mary Rice of the Environmental Investigation Agency asked, "Will the stockpile sales approved at this COP be a green light to the poaching community and organized crime, or will the resting period truly deliver to Africa's elephants an era of stability and security and increased wildlife law enforcement?"

However, it remains unclear as to what the "resting period" will mean in reality over these nine years. The compromise document states there will be no consideration of proposals for trade from countries with elephant populations already on Appendix II of the Convention. This, therefore, only applies to Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. SSN wonders whether this means that any of the other 30 or more African countries with elephants can continue to apply to have their population downlisted to Appendix II and submit ivory trade proposals.

"Sadly," Travers concluded, "I have a sinking feeling that we shall still be debating ivory trade proposals throughout the resting period-despite what I believe to be the intention of Parties that this should not be the case. However, we hope that the countries with elephants still on Appendix I will respect the spirit of the decision taken today by the Parties and resist the temptation to seek ivory trade."

The SSN and its members nevertheless will continue their commitment to respond positively to the needs of African Elephant Range States and the elephant conservation challenges they face. It must be hoped that the resting period, so many have worked so hard to achieve, is full of elephant conservation action to the benefit of real conservation.

DSWF CITES Representative Dr Roz Reeve, whose direct assistance to Parties and NGO's alike helped to break the week long deadlock on the elephant issue:

"The whole experience has been so intense but incredible……..it was amazing teamwork. The EU in its intervention congratulated the NGOs for their role.

In addition to the species issues, the CITES compliance guidelines are safe having persuaded Japan and China to the majority view.

Pro ivory trade States get an increased stockpile sale, but not as much as they wanted. On the other side of the debate, Kenya and Mali's original proposal for a 20 year moratorium on ivory trade, was finally reduced to and settled on a nine year suspension after the agreed stockpile sale, and a process that should lead to an Action Plan on African elephant and sets up an African Elephant Fund - for enforcement as well as the usual CITES agenda. It's not a perfect process, but I think we can work with it.

Despite our report, 'Ivory, Ekipas, Etosha' we didn't manage to remove Namibia's ekipa exemption or Zimbabwe worked ivory trade controls. You win some, you lose some - but we will continue to fight for the security of the world's wildlife".

OTHER CITES DECISIONS ON ENDANGERED FLORA AND FAUNA

EUROPEAN EEL

Extensive discussions on marine species led to the inclusion in CITES of the European eel, a popular food in many countries. The eel joins a growing list of high-value fish and other marine species whose trade is managed through the CITES permit system to ensure that stocks are not depleted.

This trend reflects growing concern about the accelerating decline of the world's oceans and fisheries, said CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers.

SAWFISH
Trade restrictions were also approved for sawfish - large rays related to sharks, with long toothed snouts that resemble saws. CITES delegates protected six of the world's seven sawfish species by listing them in Appendix I of the Convention, which bans all international commercial trade.

Sawfish are traded for their fins, meat, and their snouts, and as live animals for exhibition.

PORBEAGLE AND SPINY DOGFISH
But two globally threatened shark species were left behind. By a narrow margin CITES delegates declined to adopt protections for the spiny dogfish and the porbeagle shark. spiny Spiny dogfish are caught for the fish and chips trade. (Photo by J. Stafford-Deitsch courtesy Shark Info) Spiny dogfish sharks are Critically Endangered in the northeast Atlantic, and porbeagles are Critically Endangered in the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean.

The porbeagle, one of the most commercially valuable of all shark species, is traded for meat, byproducts, and fins. Spiny dogfish is traded for its meat which is used in European fish and chips dishes. Its fins, oil, leather and other products are also in demand.

The decision on these two sharks, made on World Ocean Day June 8, dismayed conservationists.

"Shark species worldwide are in a tailspin due to overfishing and poor management, and often no management at all," said Carroll Muffett, deputy campaigns director of Greenpeace USA, a member organization of the Species Survival Network. "CITES is one of the few tools available to bring the global trade in sharks under appropriate control, and stop the rapid slide toward extinction we're seeing today."

CORALS
Red, pink and other coral species in the genus Corallium will be better protected from over-exploitation after CITES adopted a proposal from the United States to list Corallium in Appendix II.

These corals are used mainly for the manufacture of jewellery and art. They are found throughout the world's tropical and temperate seas and are harvested in the Mediterranean and western Pacific. coral Red coral growing in Italian waters (Photo courtesy Rairo) Corallium populations off parts of the Italian, French and Spanish coasts are no longer commercially viable, while in the Western Pacific they have been depleted within five years of their discovery and harvest is shifting to newly discovered populations.

"This is the best possible decision to start getting the trade in these corals under some form of international control," said Ernie Cooper, a coral trade expert from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. "Until now most species of Corallium have been over-harvested as a result of a free-for-all situation."

There are no international trade controls in place, nor any consistent management plan, TRAFFIC and WWF say. And the life histories of most Corallium species, such as late maturation, slow growth and low fecundity make them particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation, according to both organizations.

"CITES listed all the hard corals in Appendix II more than a decade ago, and we are pleased to see the Convention protect these precious corals as well," said Dr Susan Lieberman, director of WWF's Global Species Programme. "Now, consumers of these beautiful items will be part of the solution, and not part of the problem."

BARBARY RED DEER AND CUVIER'S GAZELLE
Algeria's proposals to include the Barbary red deer and Cuvier's gazelle in Appendix I were rejected. The European Union, United Arab Emirates and Japan noted the lack of evidence of international trade in these species, while range states and others stressed the difficulty in obtaining data on illegal trade.

DORCAS GAZELLE
Algeria withdrew its proposal to list the Dorcas gazelle in Appendix I, which forbids international trade. Delegates agreed by consensus to include the slender-horned gazelle in Appendix I.

GUATEMALAN BEARDED LIZARD
This species was uplisted from Appendix II to I, so that all international trade is forbidden. Endemic to the Motagua Valley, it belongs to a unique family of lizards with venom glands. There are fewer than 250 of these lizards remaining due to land use change, illegal traffic for collectors, and extermination by local people based on long-held but false beliefs about the nature of their venom.

BLACK CAIMAN
By contrast, the success of strong CITES protection over many years for the black caiman of Brazil has allowed the population to recover to an estimated 16 million. The conference decided that carefully managed international trade could resume as a way of providing benefits to the local people who live with these dangerous animals, so they have been placed on Appendix II.

TREES

BRAZILWOOD
A new timber species was added to the list of CITES protected species. The trade in brazilwood will now require CITES permits, although exports of bows for musical instruments are exempted.

CEDAR
But the European Union withdrew its proposal to include Cedrela in CITES Appendix II, which allows trade in a species under strict permit conditions. Cedrela One of the Cedrela species, Cedrela odorata, growing in Costa Rica (Photo courtesy C. Navarro) Cedrela, also called Spanish cedar, includes seven species in the mahogany family found in Central and South America that are in demand for furniture and finish carpentry.

WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, criticized the CITES' failure to support Cedrela conservation.

"It is a shame how this opportunity was missed," said Ximena Barrera from WWF Colombia. "We lost a decade of conservation action for another tropical tree, big-leaf mahogany, because it took 10 years to include it on CITES Appendix II. As a result, this species is now on the verge of commercial extinction. The same is likely to happen with Cedrela if the current exploitation levels continue."

Australia offered US$200,000 to fund two posts in the CITES Secretariat to address illegal timber trade, and announced a high-level meeting on this issue to be held in late July.

THE FUTURE

Qatar offered to host the next Conference of the Parties which will take place in Doha, Qatar, in 2010.

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