IELP Goes to Thailand to Protect Endangered Species

October 7, 2004

Bangkok, Thailand

The two Committees took very divergent paths today. Committee I, which handles the listing of species at different levels of trade protection, saw its previously blistering pace slowed by objections to seemingly uncontested species listings. Committee I began by approving principles developed by the Plants Committee concerning medicinal plant annotations. These principles will guide future listings of medicinal and ornamental plants. The Committee then moved to the somewhat tedious discussion of nomenclature and terminology. Although dry, nomenclature has serious implications for species protection since it determines what subspecies and populations are regulated under CITES. The Nomenclature Committee recommended the use of an online database to assist countries to determine which species are regulated. Despite some concerns regarding the rapidly changing nature of an online database, the Committee approved the recommendation. There was also a discrepancy between the CITES listing of various species and the UNEP-WCMC Checklist of CITES Species. The European Union supported using the UNEP-WCMC list and the delegates approved this method. Mexico introduced a document recommending the use of an internationally accepted taxonomic reference for bird listings. Several countries objected to this change since it would require major modifications to national legislation and databases, and Mexico withdrew its proposal.

Committee I then turned to proposals to amend Appendices I and II. Appendix I bans all trade in a species while Appendix II allows trade that a country determines is sustainable. The day was dominated by proposals to list several orchid species. Orchids are particularly difficult to list since there are numerous hybrids and many are artificially propagated. The United States often objected to the proposals since they wanted greater precision on which hybrids and subspecies are listed. At one point, the US objected to a decision by the Chairperson to push forward a proposal that the US thought inaccurately reflected the scientific name of a plant species. The Committee voted on the issue, and the proposal was overwhelmingly supported. The Committee applauded when the US objections were not sustained. Toward the end of the afternoon, in a funny moment, the US made a point of showing its unconditional support for a proposal to protect a palm species from Madagascar. The Chairperson thanked the US for joining the atmosphere of approval in Committee I.

Lunchtime, as always, is a busy time at the Conference. During the two-hour break, delegates from the Parties and NGOs lobby for support of their proposals. Unfortunately, there were too many presentations that I wanted to attend today! The IELP crew all attended a presentation designed to garner support for greater cooperation between the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and CITES. This cooperation is designed to help curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, especially of Patagonian toothfish (known as Chilean Sea Bass). The proposal is up for debate tomorrow and might be contentious. The next presentation we attended on the illegal Ramin trade was very moving. Ramin, as it turns out, is not just the cheap noodle I survived on during undergrad; it is a tree that lives primarily in Indonesian peat areas and is the sole habitat for orangutans. The wood is highly valuable because it is easy to use for building ornaments, picture frames, and baby cribs. The presentation was particularly effective because of undercover video footage taken by the Environmental Investigative Agency, which showed the methods wood smugglers used to evade Indonesian enforcement.

Committee II, which was behind for most of the week, managed to almost catch up when several seemingly controversial issues were supported without much objection. There will be an update on the Committee II decisions when they are finalized tomorrow.

James Murphy

Links

CITES Secretariat
13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP13)