The Department of Environmental Affairs today, 30 March 2010 briefed the media on the outcomes of the recently held 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES COP 15), which took place in Doha Qatar from 13 to 25 March 2010.
COP 15 drew together some 1 500 participants representing more than 170 governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations. The meeting considered 68 agenda items and 42 proposals to amend the CITES appendices.
COP 15 adopted resolutions and decisions directed to parties or signatory countries, the secretariat and convention bodies on a wide range of topics including: electronic permitting, Asian big cats, rhinoceroses, bigleaf mahogany and Madagascar plant species.
South Africa submitted two plant proposals for consideration at COP 15. The submissions were for the proposed delisting of two protea species namely Protea odorata (Swartland sugarbush) and Orothamnus zeyheri, (marsh rose), as they do not fulfil the CITES’ listing criteria. Marsh rose is not harvested in the wild and is not subject to international trade. The Swartland sugarbush population size is small and confined to a single locality and international trade does not represent a threat.
National protection protocols seem to be more sufficient to protect these species; hence the proposal for delisting that is also scientifically supported. These proposals were subjected to proper scrutiny by the National Scientific Authority. Subsequently the same species were subjected to the CITES periodic review process within the CITES Plants Committee where a decision was taken to support the de-listing proposals.
The COP secretariat announced that South Africa published national CITES regulations on 5 March 2010 and that they will do the evaluation of the legislation to determine whether South Africa now fulfils the requirement to be included in first category of the CITES legislation project which will mean that South Africa has adequate national legislation for implementation of the Convention.
South Africa currently features in second category of the CITES legislation project due to the use of provincial legislation for the implementation of CITES. The national CITES regulations designates management and scientific authorities, ensures that a permit system is in place to facilitate trade and to ensure that penalties are in place for non-compliance as well as making sure that permits are issued in line with the text of the convention. The regulations will come into effect on 1 May 2010.
At COP 15, the illegal killing of rhinos came under the spotlight with a report on the status conservation and trade in African and Asian rhinoceroses being tabled for consideration. Due to the recent spate of illegal killing of rhinos in South Africa, South Africa was required to inform the CITES parties on steps taken by the country to curb the illegal killing of rhino and actions to conserve the rhino population.
South Africa reported on the steps that have been undertaken, including:
* The publishing of the national CITES regulations (final publishing for implementation in process)
* Establishment of national Wildlife Crime Reaction Unit (the process of which is at advanced stages)
* Establishment of an intergovernmental national Wildlife Investigator’s Forum comprising of national, provincial wildlife investigators, South African National Parks, members of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) organised crime and Interpol units.
* Moratorium on the internal sale of rhinoceros horns and its products have been instituted and published for implementation
* Publication of national norms and standards for the marking of rhinoceros horns and the trophy hunting of white rhinoceros
* South Africa continues to play an active role in international forums including Interpol wildlife crime meetings, Rhinoceros Task Force of the CITES and the regional Rhino and Elephant Security Group.
At COP 15 it was the first time that commercial fisheries issues were extensively discussed with the North Atlantic bluefin tuna proposed for listing on appendix one. Several member states opposed the proposal arguing that regional fisheries management organisations such as International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) were best placed for tackling the decline of the bluefin tuna. The COP rejected the proposal.
Tanzania introduced a proposal to transfer the population of the African elephant of the United Republic of Tanzania from appendix one to appendix two for specific purposes. The proposal was presented in two parts, namely whether to allow the transfer for the exclusive purpose of allowing trade in hunting, trophies, trade in raw hides and trade in live animals under the conditions set forth in the proposal (first part); and trade in registered ivory, subject to the conditions set forth in the proposal (second part).
Tanzania cited the acknowledgment by the panel of experts and the secretariat that the elephant populations in this country no longer meet the criteria for appendix one. Deliberations ensued on a number of issues around this proposal including concerns raised by others on perceived inadequate anti-poaching efforts, processes around verification of ivory stocks and cross-border trafficking.
Notwithstanding Tanzania’s motivation and clarification of perceived concerns, the proposal was unable to attract the required votes and was subsequently rejected.
Zambia introduced an amended proposal (COP 15 Prop.5) to transfer the elephant population to appendix two for the exclusive purpose of allowing trade in hunting trophies, trade in raw hides and trade in live animals under the conditions set forth in the proposal. This proposal was also rejected.
Other issues for discussions beyond proposals for amendment of appendices include that interpretation and implementation of the convention, compliance and enforcement, trade control and marking, exemptions and special trade provisions, species trade and conservation, cooperation with other multilateral agreements, CITES and livelihoods as well as capacity building.
The conservation of wild animals and plants, especially where trade is involved, remains a global challenge that requires the involvement of all affected stakeholders. It requires the integration of scientific and technical information, management of diverse expectations, capacity and constant monitoring of trends.
South Africa’s participation in the deliberations at COP 15 was invaluable given its status as one of the mega-diverse countries in the world. South Africa focussed on supporting proposals and working documents which were in line with the principle of sustainable utilisation of natural resources as enshrined in article 24 of the Constitution. Decisions and resolutions adopted at the conference of parties have a bearing on national implementation and parties are expected to comply and report accordingly.
Fact sheet
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
Many wildlife species in trade are not endangered, but the existence of an agreement to ensure the sustainability of the trade is important in order to safeguard these resources for the future. Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation.
CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation. South Africa ratified the convention on 15 July 1975. The convention came into force on 13 October of the same year. South Africa, as a mega-biodiverse country views sustainable utilisation of its natural resources as a key component of its development strategy.
On this account, CITES is one of the critical platforms for multilateral engagement. The 15th Conference of Parties to CITES was held in Doha, Qatar from 13 to 25 March 2010.
Further information on CITES and COP 15 can be obtained from http://www.cites.org.
CITES National Regulations are available at:
http://www.environment.gov.za//PolLeg/Legislation/2010Mar30/CITES national regulations .pdf
Information on summary and analysis of COP 15 is available at:
http://www.environment.gov.za//PolLeg/Legislation/2010Mar30_1/Summary & Analysis.pdf.
For media queries contact:
Albi Modise
Cell: 083 490 2871
Roopa Singh
Cell: 082 225 3076
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs
30 March 2010
