CONSERVATIONISTS are getting practical in their efforts to control the trade in endangered species. Rather than focusing on protecting iconic species such as the American bald eagle, their attention is turning to less fashionable plants and animals.
This shift in emphasis dominated a meeting this week of delegations to CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, based in Geneva. Delegates presented details of more than 50 proposals to tighten regulation of trade in some species and loosen it in others.
They include plans to ease controls on products from species such as the bald eagle, bobcat, elephant and Nile crocodile, while increasing regulation governing the sale of lower-profile species threatened by commercial fishing and the trade in tropical wood. 鈥淐ITES is now being used to regulate trade in commercially important species as well as the iconic ones,鈥� says David Morgan, head of the scientific support unit in the CITES secretariat.
Advertisement
There are eight proposals to tighten the trade in wild turtles, and a move to give more protection to heavily exploited fish species such as the humphead wrasse, a large reef fish. Australia and Madagascar want to regulate trade in teeth, trophies and fins from the great white shark. There is also a move by Kenya to further protect lions.
But they are the only well-known species being offered greater protection. Indonesia wants tighter controls on ramin, a major timber export from south-east Asia, and on agarwood trees, which provide valuable 鈥渁gar oil鈥� used in incense, perfumes and medicines. Through CITES, exporting nations would issue permits guaranteeing that exported material comes from approved and sustainable domestic sources. Importers could demand to check permits, so the whole supply chain would be regulated.
鈥淭he exporting countries want to make sure the trade is properly regulated, because when these species are extinct that鈥檚 the end of it,鈥� says Morgan. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long-term investment and a recognition that CITES is not a punishment tool, but can be used by countries to defend their own resources.鈥�
The rules governing the trade in a number of iconic species are set to be relaxed. The US, for example, wants to end the regulation in the trade in bobcats, a species it now views as secure. The US delegation also says that bald eagles are now abundant enough for their feathers to be traded and birds to be sold to zoos. 鈥淭he global population is about 100,000 birds, and it has been doubling every seven to eight years,鈥� says Morgan.
More contentious are applications from Namibia, South Africa and Botswana to sell stockpiles of ivory. Namibia wants to be allowed to export up to 2000 kilograms of ivory each year, and alongside South Africa, wants to sell elephant leather.
Conservation groups say such schemes have merit, as a profitable, sustainable trade in wildlife gives countries an incentive to prevent them going extinct. 鈥淏ut there are certain conditions that need to be in place before sales of ivory should be allowed,鈥� cautions Cliona O鈥橞rien, wildlife trade officer for WWF International, such as measures to monitor and regulate exports and imports. CITES鈥檚 166 member countries will vote on the proposals when they meet in Bangkok, Thailand, in October.