Update 3: 14th Conference Of The Parties To Cites

Update 3: 14th Conference Of The Parties To Cites Meeting

14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP 14) to CITES, UPDATE #3

Black rhino:

Kenya submitted a proposal to repeal a resolution adopted at CoP13 which approved an annual export quota of five hunting trophies of adult male black rhinoceros from South Africa and five from Namibia.

After Kenya submitted its proposal, Namibia and South Africa responded that the proposal was coming late in the afternoon and as a result there was not enough time left for many parties to intervene. Among those that had still the time to intervene, two countries spoke in favour of the proposal and two against.

The proposal eventually went into vote and was clearly defeated, with 15 for, 65 against, and 11 abstentions; this was 81% against, and to pass a proposal requires 2/3 of all votes cast. The new version of electronic voting was challenging for countries, and of the 171 CITES Parties, only 102 have their credentials thus far. This outcome is in agreement with WWF's and TRAFFIC's position.

The remaining Rhino document (document 54; see the WWF and TRAFFIC positions), which deals with poaching and illegal trade in Asia and Africa, will be discussed tomorrow.

Saiga antelope:

The saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) is also a priority species for WWF and TRAFFIC. The Secretariat had submitted a series of decisions that were adopted.

The Secretariat document reports on progress made in implementing decisions taken at CoP13 to support the conservation of the saiga antelope and guarantees that all range states, consumer and trading parties will continue to implement conservation measures in favour of the species.

China (the main importing country) and Mongolia announced their vital support to all recommendations and resolutions listed in the document.

According to these decisions, registration and marking of the saiga horn stockpiles, regular monitoring and biannual reporting are now mandatory for the consumer and trading countries such as China, Singapore and Malaysia. Moreover, all range states are obliged to implement the Medium-Term International Work Programme an international programme for the conservation of the saiga antelope.

The Russian Federation also officially announced it would sign the Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelope and implement the Saiga Action Plan. This is an excellent outcome, as it has involved many years of advocacy to have Russia sign the MoU (WWF is a signatory). China highlighted its strong will to further cooperate with the CITES Secretariat, IUCN and NGOs and "join forces" to conserve the saiga antelope.

Hawksbill sea turtle:

There was an agenda item to discuss the hawksbill turtle in the Wider Caribbean. At earlier CITES meetings, it was agreed to try to hold a regional meeting to develop a region-wide management plan on the species, focusing on illegal trade, habitat loss, and other threats.

The Secretariat presented their document, and noted that few countries had reported on progress in hawksbill conservation. A large number of interventions ensued (Cuba, USA, Germany on behalf of the EU, Venezuela, Namibia, Costa Rica, St Lucia, Dominica, and WWF and TRAFFIC (a joint intervention).

Many countries highlighted the work on the Interamerican Convention for the Conservation of Marine Turtles (IAC) and other regional Caribbean organizations and initiatives the general sense being that CITES should continue to monitor the situation, but any regional workshop to develop a regional strategy for the species should not be under the CITES "umbrella".

WWF and TRAFFIC made a joint intervention on regional cooperation for the species, and our support for and encouragement of the work of the IAC and SPAW Protocol; we also announced the imminent launch of TRAFFIC's Southern Caribbean marine turtle report.

There were minor disagreements regarding the text of a decision to keep CITES' attention on the species and then the Chair sent the matter of the decisions to a working group (instead of a small drafting group). He opened the working group to all takers * and it now includes Bahamas, Cuba, USA, Dominica, UK, Costa Rica, Honduras, Saint Lucia, Mexico, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Fiji, Japan, and China, as well as IWMC, HSUS, WWF, and TRAFFIC.

It will be hard to coordinate 19 individuals in such a working group, which Mexico will chair (and hopefully it won't turn into a free-for-all about hawksbills and CITES*).

Cuba:

To open its intervention, Cuba stated that "Cuba has not given up on its intention or right to submit a future CITES proposal, but today is announcing a voluntary moratorium on the hawksbill fishery, from next year".

Cuba further stated that it does not give up on its right to use the species in the future. This is a major announcement, one that WWF was aware would be coming soon, but was very pleased to see it announced publicly to the CITES community, after many many years of conflict in CITES over Cuba's hawksbill harvest and desire to trade to Japan.

Livelihoods:

The discussions on Document 14, regarding CITES and Livelihoods, began today with introductions from the proponents * Argentina, China and Germany (on behalf of the European Community), as well as the UK who originally drafted the document.

The UK suggested that a small drafting group might carry out slight modifications to the text, with the aim to make clear that the text referred to the implementation of CITES decisions, not to the decisions themselves (only the scientific criteria for listing should be used to make such decisions).

The discussion on this document will be continued tomorrow morning. WWF supports the document.

Timber:

At the regional meeting of the Central and South American and the Caribbean Region, the Central American countries stated that they will not support the timber proposals submitted by Germany on behalf of the European Union inclusion of Dalbergia retusa and D granadillo, Dalbergia stevensonii and Cedrela spp. on Appendix II.

Their position was also supported by Perú. Their main arguments include the lack of capacity to implement the commitments linked to an Appendix II listing; ongoing problems to implement trade restrictions on mahogany (listed on Appendix II in 2002); a lack of information on the distribution of these species; and the procedure used by the EU, which submitted the proposal without consultation (they claim).

WWF and TRAFFIC believe that there has been an adequate consultation process and that Cedrela and D granadillo urgently need to be listed on Appendix II due to the impact of trade on these tree species (however, WWF does not support the inclusion of Dalbergia stevensonii).

A listing of Cedrela and D granadillo on Appendix II would contribute to stop the decrease of their populations and mobilize resources and technical cooperation for the conservation and sustainable use of these tree species. WWF called its field offices in Central and South America to approach the concerned governments and encourage them to reconsider their position.

Strategic vision and budget:

These items were hotly debated and discussed for about 4 hours in Committee II, there was a joint intervention from WWF, TRAFFIC and IUCN on the Strategic Vision. Working groups were set up on both issues. Final outcomes will not be forthcoming for a few days. WWF, TRAFFIC, and IUCN also circulated a joint briefing on the Strategic Vision to Parties.

Coming up tomorrow (key issues):

* CITES and Livelihoods (continued)
* Cetaceans (Japan's attempt to get CITES to review its listing in Appendix I of all of the species of great whales)
* Sharks (not the listing proposals, but conservation measures, etc.)
* Possibly elephants, ivory trade, and domestic ivory markets
* Possibly sturgeon

Most significant announcements from governments:

* Cuba announced its "voluntary moratorium on the hawksbill fishery", which will commence next year.
* Russia announced it will sign the Saiga MoU (hopefully soon). This is long-awaited.

Side event:

Unveiling of the tiger photo mosaic in front of the World Forum Convention Center, on Thursday.

ENDS

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