1. CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES
OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA
For use of the media only;
not an official document.
PRESS RELEASE
CITES conference t o consider ne w t ra de r ules
for m a ri ne, t i m be r and o t he r w il dlife species
Governments will also adopt a strategic vision
and decisions on enforcement and livelihoods
Geneva, May 2007 – The Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will hold its next triennial conference in
The Hague from 3 to 15 June to decide how to improve the wildlife trade
regime.
Among other issues, the participating Governments will consider some 40 new
proposals for amending the rules for specific species. Many of these proposals
reflect growing international concern about the accelerating destruction of the
world’s marine and forest resources through overfishing and excessive logging.
Others seek to advance the protection or sustainable use of diverse plants,
reptiles, birds and mammals. Still others aim to recognize conservation
successes by removing from the CITES Appendices species that are no longer
threaten by overexploitation.
Other issues on the agenda include the adoption of a new strategic vision for
the period 2008 to 2013, the enforcement of CITES regulations and the control of
illegal trade, and the potential impacts of CITES measures on the livelihoods of the
rural poor, who are often on the frontlines of managing and caring for wildlife.
In addition, the Government of the Netherlands will organize CITES’ first
Ministerial debate on Wednesday 13 June. The debate will focus on timber,
fisheries and how CITES can best support the enforcement efforts of its Parties to
combat illegal trade.
“ For over 30 years CITES has played an important role in ensuring that the
wildlife trade is managed sustainably and does not threaten the survival of any
species. The acute challenges of the 21st century – from achieving the 2010 target for
reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity to realizing the Millennium Development Goals
by 2015 – make CITES more relevant today than ever before,” said Executive Director
Achim Steiner of the United Nations Environment Programme, which administers the
CITES secretariat.
“It is vital that CITES continue to evolve so that it can respond effectively to
the growing challenges facing our natural environment and the communities that
most depend upon it. The debate over the inclusion of additional high-value fishery
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and timber species will be an important indicator of the direction CITES is likely to take
over the coming years,” said CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers.
Ma rine species
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
in 2002 the world’s capture (non-aquaculture) fisheries produced 93.2 million tonnes
of fish, of which 84.5 million came from the sea. The value of the total marine and
freshwater catch at the first point of sale was around USD 78 billion. As a result, it is
estimated that some 47 % of marine fish stocks or species groups are fully exploited,
18 % overexploited and 10 % significantly depleted or recovering from depletion. (See
www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5600e/y5600e04.htm )
A growing number of commercially exploited fish have come under CITES
controls in recent years, for example the basking and whale sharks were included in
Appendix II in 2002 and the great white shark and the humphead wrasse in 2004. This
year’s proposals (see www.cites.org/eng/cop/14/prop/index.shtml) seek to expand
CITES coverage of marine species to two other sharks, the European eel, red or pink
coral, sawfishes, a type of cardinelfish popular in the aquarium trade and finally two
species of lobsters.
The spiny d o g fish (Proposal no. 16) is a small shark that was once abundant in
temperate waters. It is now overexploited for its meat, which is highly valued in
Europe (often featuring in British “fish and chips” shops) and elsewhere. Like many
other sharks, it is particularly vulnerable to excessive fishing because of its slow
reproductive rate. It also tends to travel in large schools of hundreds or thousands,
which are easier for fishing boats to track. Germany on behalf of the European
Community (EC) proposes listing the dogfish in Appendix II (which manages trade
through a permit system) and establishing a sustainable fishery management
programme for the species.
The p o r bea gle shark (Prop. 15) has also experienced population declines,
notably in the northern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, owing to unsustainable fishing
for its high-value meat and fins. The proposal by Germany on behalf of the EC notes
the lack of consistent data on the global catch of this species. It argues that requiring
CITES export permits would ensure that international markets are supplied by fish
from sustainably managed fisheries that keep accurate records.
The Euro pean eel (Prop. 18) spawns in the Sargasso Sea in the eastern
Atlantic. The larvae then ride the Gulf Stream on a three-year migration towards
Europe, where they enter estuaries and metamorphose into young fish. A popular
food, eels live in coastal and freshwater ecosystems throughout Europe and the
Mediterranean. Noting that stocks have declined dramatically over the past several
decades owing to overfishing and other causes, Germany on behalf of the EC is
proposing to require export permits by listing the eel on Appendix II.
The most valuable of all the precious corals, re d o r pin k coral (Prop. 21) has
been harvested for over 5,000 years and used for jewellery and other decorative
items. These tiny marine animals (known as polyps) build vast colonies throughout the
tropical, subtropical and temperate oceans. The resulting reefs and colonies create
extremely valuable habitat for innumerable other species. But overharvesting and the

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destruction of entire colonies by bottom trawls and dredges have led to dramatic
population declines. The United States proposes adding the red or pink coral to
Appendix II to control the trade.
Once widespread from the tropics to the temperate latitudes, and living mostly
in coastal areas, sa wfishes (Prop. 17) have seen their numbers decline by over 90 %
throughout their range. Their rostral saws, teeth, fins and another body parts bring
high prices and are used in traditional medicine and as curios, while live specimens
are sought for aquaria. If agreed in The Hague, the proposal by Kenya, Nicaragua and
the United States would add sawfishes to Appendix I, which would forbid all
international commercial trade.
The Banggai car dinelfish (Prop. 19) has been popular in the aquarium trade
since 1995, with some 700,000 to 900,000 fish now being collected every year. Its
limited geographic range, small population and particular reproductive habits render it
particularly vulnerable to overexploitation. The proposal of the United States calls for
managing this species through the CITES permit system. It also argues that existing
captive-breeding facilities could meet much of the demand.
Finally, Brazil proposes a CITES Appendix-II listing for the Brazilian populations
of the Carib bean spin y lo bs te r and the s moo t h t ail spin y lo bs te r (Prop. 20). It
states that after 50 years of intense commercial exploitation, these two species have
been over-fished for export to international food markets. The lobsters live in coastal
waters, including reefs and seaweed banks, and take some four years to reach full
maturity.
Tim be r species
It is widely recognized that tropical forests are under severe pressure from logging
and land conversion. FAO estimates that the world lost over 0.8 % of its tropical forests
every year between 1980 and 1990. From 1990 to 2000, the annual loss of forest cover
in many tropical countries continued to be significant, in many cases over 1 % per year.
Timber trees, like fishery species, have only recently started to be covered by
CITES. However, as loggers scour the remaining tracts of forest and selectively
remove high-value timbers, concern has grown over the need for better controls. The
CITES member States have already agreed to include Latin America’s bigleaf
mahogany and Southeast Asia’s ramin and agarwood trees in Appendix II.
Germany on behalf of the EC is proposing an Appendix-II listing for three
species of r ose woo d (Props. 31 and 32). This species grows only in the swamp
forests of southern Belize and nearby regions of Guatemala and Mexico. The proposal
argues that this species is threatened by increasing deforestation in the region and
that it is very much sought after as tonewood for musical instruments. Easier access
to its habitat and declining stocks of other rosewoods may boost trade levels.
The cedar (Prop. 33) of Central and South America, once a common tree, has
been selectively cut for at least 250 years for its timber. This timber is valued locally
for its resistance to rotting and insects and internationally as a precious wood. The
cedar also suffers from extensive deforestation. To protect the species from being
further reduced throughout its natural range, Germany on behalf of the EC proposes
listing it on Appendix II and requiring trade permits.

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Ivo ry
The long-running global debate over the African elep ha n t has focused on the
benefits that income from ivory sales may bring to conservation and to local
communities living side by side with these large and potentially dangerous animals
and concerns that such sales may encourage poaching. This year’s proposals (Props. 4
to 6) again reflect opposing views on how best to improve the conservation of the
world’s largest land animal.
CITES banned the international commercial ivory trade in 1989. Then, in 1997,
recognizing that some southern African elephant populations were healthy and well
managed, it permitted Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to make a one-time sale of
a stock of ivory to Japan totalling 50 tonnes. The sales took place in 1999 and earned
some USD 5 million.
In 2002, CITES agreed in principle to allow a second sale from Botswana (20
tonnes), Namibia (10 tonnes) and South Africa (30 tonnes). (In 2004 a request that
CITES authorize annual quotas was not agreed.) The one-time sales were made
conditional on the ability of the MIKE programme (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of
Elephants) to establish up-to-date and comprehensive baseline data on elephant
poaching and population levels. MIKE was established to provide an objective
assessment of what impact future ivory sales may have on elephant populations and
poaching.
To date, the CITES Standing Committee, which oversees the implementation of
CITES decisions when the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP) is not in session ,
has not determined that the MIKE baseline data have been assembled, and so the
sales have not taken place. This issue will be revisited when the Standing Committee
meets again in The Hague on 2 June, just before the opening of the CoP.
For this year’s conference, Botswana and Namibia have jointly submitted a
new proposal to maintain the elephant populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa
and Zimbabwe in Appendix II while easing the conditions for permitting future sales of
ivory. In addition, Botswana is requesting authorization for a one-off sale of 40 tonnes
of existing ivory stocks followed by an annual export quota of up to eight tonnes of
ivory per year from its national population.
Taking the opposing view, Kenya and Mali are proposing that a ban on trade in
raw or worked ivory from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe be imposed
for a period of 20 years. They argue that allowing any trade in ivory will increase the
poaching of elephants.
A meeting of the African range States is scheduled to take place in advance of
the conference, on 31 May and 1 June, in an effort to produce a regional consensus on
how to move forward together on managing the continent’s elephant herds.
Othe r lis tin g p r o p osals

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The slo w lo ris (Prop. 1) is a small, nocturnal primate that is native to South
and Southeast Asia. The proposal states that the two species of slow loris are
threatened by high and growing demand in Asian countries for traditional medicines
and pets. They also suffer from escalating habitat destruction. Cambodia contends
that transferring these species from Appendix II to Appendix I, thereby forbidding all
commercial trade, would help raise public awareness of the need to protect it and
would boost national conservation measures.
Algeria proposes adding several gazelle species (Props. 10 to 12) to Appendix
I. Guatemala seeks to transfer the bea ded lizar d (Prop. 14) from Appendix II to I.
Uganda would like to transfer the population of Ugandan leo par ds (Prop. 3) from
Appendix I to Appendix II to allow limited trade in sports trophies. Brazil proposes
moving the Brazilian population of the black cai ma n (Prop. 13) from Appendix I to
Appendix II. Other proposals call for removing species altogether from CITES on the
grounds that they no longer require such protection. These include a type of agave
(Prop. 22), a succulent plant, the North American b o bca t (Prop. 2), the ornamental
plant oconee bells (Prop. 28) and several cact us species (Props. 24 and 25).
The st ra te gic visio n, en fo rce me n t an d o t he r issues
The meeting will negotiate and adopt a new text to replace the st ra te gic
vision adopted in the year 2000. The purpose of the updated strategic vision will be
to improve the working of the Convention and to ensure that policy developments
under CITES are aligned with changes in international environmental priorities. (See
document CoP14 Doc. 11.)
The current draft of the text emphasizes how CITES can: help to meet the UN
Millennium Development Goals; reduce significantly the rate of biodiversity loss by
2010; ensure stewardship of natural resources and their use at sustainable levels;
safeguard wildlife as an integral part of the global ecosystem on which all life
depends; achieve deeper understanding of the cultural, social and economic issues at
play in producer and consumer countries; promote wider involvement of civil society
in the development of conservation policies and practices; and give greater attention
to international trade in timber and aquatic species.
The illegal trade in wildlife and the effective en fo rce me n t of CITES regulations
remain major concerns for governments and feature prominently on the conference
agenda. For example, delegates will debate how to improve information gathering in
order to obtain a better overview of worldwide smuggling and illicit trade. They will
also be asked to reconvene the CITES Enforcement Expert Group, which consists of
officials from a variety of national and international law enforcement agencies, to
address this issue.
Other enforcement issues on the table include specific species heavily targeted
by wildlife criminals, notably: elephants, great apes and tigers, sturgeon and
mahogany; the possible role of the Internet in facilitating illegal trade; and special
missions that have been undertaken by the CITES Secretariat to examine illegal trade.
Recent missions have included visits to forests and ports in Indonesia, conducted in
collaboration with UNEP’s Great Ape Survival Project, to study the harvesting and
smuggling of orang-utans, and travel to the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to
examine the use of tiger and leopard skins in clothing. This work aims to provide
insights into the difficulties faced by operational law enforcement personnel and to

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identify ways in which they can be supported by the CITES community. (See
documents CoP14 Doc. 23 to 32.)
While the primary goal of CITES is to conserve biodiversity, governments have
recognized that there are linkages between biodiversity and conservation and the
livelihoods of poor people. There are also ethical, political and pragmatic reasons for
taking into account the potential impacts of CITES regulations on the livelihoo ds of
the poor. The conference will explore practical measures for achieving this, including a
proposal for making a series of assessments and case studies of how CITES decisions
currently impact livelihoods. (See document CoP14 Doc. 14.)
Delegates will also consider a recommendation that the Ad dis Aba ba
Principles an d Guidelines f o r t he Sus tainable Use of Biodive rsi t y , which have
been agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity, be considered as a
voluntary additional tool that governments can take full account of when
implementing CITES. (See document CoP14 Doc. 13.)
Back g ro u n de r: Unde rs ta n din g CITES
Thousands of species are used by people in their daily lives as pets or for food,
fashion or health care. CITES recognizes that commercial trade in these plants and
animals may be beneficial both to conservation and to the livelihoods of local people.
When wildlife trade is unregulated, it can seriously damage populations of species,
especially those that are already vulnerable as a result of other factors, such as
habitat loss. Governments responded to this concern by adopting CITES in 1973 to
regulate the international wildlife trade so as to ensure that it remains at a sustainable
level. With some 171 Parties, CITES remains one of the world's most powerful tools for
biodiversity conservation through the regulation of trade in wild fauna and flora.
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.
CITES provides three regulatory options in the form of Appendices. Animals
and plants listed in Ap pe n dix I are excluded from international commercial trade
except in very special circumstances. Appendix I contains about 530 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 Ap pe n dix II,
but it is strictly controlled on the basis of CITES permits. This Appendix II covers over
4,460 animal species and 28,000 plant species, including all those primates, cats,
cetaceans, parrots, crocodiles and orchids not listed in Appendix I.
Finally, Ap pe n dix III includes species that are protected within the borders of
a member country. By including a species in Appendix-III a country calls on others to
help it regulate trade in the listed species. This Appendix lists over 290 species.

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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 State to adopt the necessary national legislation
and officially designate a Management Authority that issues permits to trade.
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 trade may be
possible with strict oversight. 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.
The preliminary review by the CITES Secretariat described above focused on
whether the proposals from governments have sufficiently addressed the various
listing criteria. These criteria relate to: trade (is the species being actively traded? is
trade really the problem rather than, say, habitat destruction?); biology (what is the
scientific evidence that populations are declining or increasing?); and other technical
matters (e.g. has the proponent consulted thoroughly with other range States?).
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