The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa, and the Secretary General of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Mr John E. Scanlon, will today (10 September 2015) meet at the Sandton Convention Centre to discuss preparations for the 17th Conference of Parties to CITES (CITES CoP17) to be held in Johannesburg in 2016.
The meeting will be followed by a site inspection of the venue for CITES CoP17 which will bring the global community together to tackle the world's biggest wildlife challenges and opportunities from 24 September to 5 October 2016.
Johannesburg was announced as the venue for CITES CoP17 by the CITES Secretariat and the Department of Environmental Affairs on 19 June 2015.
A CITES Notification to the Parties provides specific details about the strict deadlines for the submission of documents for the upcoming meeting.
The decision follows an offer by South Africa to host the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) which was accepted by acclamation at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Bangkok, March 2013).
This will be the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES held on the African continent since CITES came into force on 1 July 1975, but the first on the continent since 2000.
Media are invited to attend the site visit:
Venue: Sandton Convention Centre
Date: 10 September 2015
Time: 14h00
Please RSVP by noon (12pm) on 10 September 2015 to:
Eleanor Momberg
Tel: 012 399 9948
Cell: 083 400 5741
E-mail: emomberg@environment.gov.za
For media inquiries contact:
Albi Modise
Cell: 083 490 2871
