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WASHINGTON, DC—On June 3,
2007, more than a thousand delegates will convene in The Hague to
determine the fate of scores of animal and plant species at risk of
over-exploitation due to international trade. Parties to the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) will consider proposals affecting the global protection of
African elephants, Asian big cats, great whales, North American
bobcats, leopards, rhinos, sharks, coral, slow lorises, and a variety
of plant and tree species.
“Widely considered to be the
largest international conservation Treaty, CITES matters enormously. It
is perhaps the single greatest global tool for conserving wildlife from
the potentially damaging impacts of trade,” noted Will
Travers, CEO of the UK-based Born Free Foundation and President of the
Species Survival Network (SSN).
SSN is an international coalition of
more than 80 organizations from more than 30 countries working to
ensure strong implementation of CITES. A detailed examination of each
proposal and working document for the forthcoming CITES meeting is
available in English,
French,
Spanish,
and Arabic.
Among the most contentious proposals
to be considered are those related to the renewed trade in African
elephant ivory. Botswana and Namibia have petitioned for the weakening
of international trade controls, which many predict could prove
disastrous for elephant populations worldwide. “Proposals to
further relax the current prohibition on trade in elephant ivory are
particularly indefensible when evidence strongly suggests that seizures
of illegal ivory are at their highest level since the ban was first
introduced 17 years ago,” Travers added. “Allowing
any legal trade in ivory simply will add to the deadly pressure already
experienced by many elephant populations across Africa and Asia. Are
CITES Parties seriously willing to knowingly contribute to a slaughter
reminiscent of the days when innumerable elephant carcasses
unceremoniously littered the African savannah?"
Meanwhile, Kenya and Mali, supported
by numerous other African elephant range states, propose the
establishment of a 20-year moratorium on any further consideration of
the renewal of elephant ivory trade. This proposal is strongly
supported by SSN.
This year’s meeting promises
to be substantially dominated by marine species issues. Japan has
submitted a dangerous document proposing a process to circumvent
international prohibitions on whaling and international commercial
trade in whale products. CITES Parties will also consider increasing
protection for sawfish, two species of sharks (porbeagle and spiny
dogfish), red coral, cardinalfish and the Brazilian population of the
spiny lobster.
“Overexploited species such
as sawfish will benefit from an international prohibition on commercial
trade,” Travers noted. Sawfish are targeted to supply
international trade demand for rostral saws and teeth, fins, other body
parts utilized in traditional medicines, and live animals for aquaria.
The meat of the porbeagle and spiny dogfish is consumed in Europe (the
latter under the misnomer “rock salmon” in British
“fish and chips”), while their fins are exported to
Asia for use in shark fin soup.
The eyes of the world will be focused
on The Hague for two weeks starting Sunday 3rd June, monitoring the
weighty deliberations undertaken by the CITES Parties. The future of
some of the world’s most threatened species hangs in the
balance, and millions of people across the globe can follow every twist
and turn of these life and death negotiations via the daily SSN Blog
during CITES CoP14.
For
more information contact:
Adam Roberts, Press Officer, Tel: +1-202-337-3123 (GMT - 5
hours), E-mail: press@ssn.org
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