CITES and the Challenges to Sustainability

Public Seminar Joint session of the 27th meeting of Animals Committee

and 21st meeting of Plants Committee of CITES Veracruz, May 3 2014

Colman O’Criodain (Rapporteur)

Balancing Act

1. Between the need to protect species at risk from trade and the need to provide incentives for sustainable use of natural resources;

CITES is a balancing act in many ways:

2. Between the need for rules that are easy to follow and ones that reflect the complexity of species and products in trade from different sources;

In many ways, the Secretariat and the Committees carry a huge part of the burden, similar to the arm of the man in the picture.

Livelihoods

The consequence of having rules that are too restrictive is that livelihoods are needlessly jeopardized.

Tragedy

The consequence, on the other hand, of rules that are too lax is biodiversity loss, with negative implications for livelihoods and general well-being.

Increasing pressure

• Biodiversity is under increasing pressure; this derives from the growth in human population, requiring food and shelter.

• However, consumption patterns are probably more significant than raw population numbers.

• The environmental footprint of the richer countries around the world must be taken into account.

• Also, from a CITES perspective, the rise of a newly affluent middle class in many countries, one that aspires to the trappings of a historical elite, is a critical factor.

Crime

The increasing role of organised crime in serious depletion of CITES species was noted. Such crime – frequently violent in nature – erodes governance,

engenders corruption and deprives communities of natural resources. It requires a cross-sectoral approach from all the actors engaged in the wider

fight against organised crime.

Increasing complexity More than ever, the scientific complexity of the species that CITES deals with is becoming apparent. For example, the pictures show African and Asian lions, which were always regarded as separate subspecies (on Appendix II and I respectively); now this distinction is called into question. Several speakers highlighted the role of nomenclature in the Convention.

Categories of trade are constantly being identified where there is a low conservation risk and where lighter procedures are warranted – e.g. musical instruments. However, all these exemptions and lighter procedures increase the complexity of CITES rules.

New territory

Related to the complexity of the Convention is the fact that it is moving into new territory, with increasing numbers of timber and commercial fish species being listed.

Workload

The increasing complexity of the Convention and the increased pressure on biodiversity both contribute to an increased workload for the Secretariat, the Committees and National Authorities.

Resources

The budget of the Secretariat is diminishing in real terms, as are those of many national authorities.

All of this is taking place against a background of diminishing resources available to the Convention.

Key experts, on which the Committees formerly depended, are retiring or moving into other work areas, and are not being replaced at the same rate.

Dissemination

There is a need, therefore, for more awareness of what CITES is about. Insofar as the public are familiar with it, they tend to think that it is an instrument for banning trade, and they are not aware of its role in promoting sustainable trade.

New actors

We need to look to new actors – in the academic, fisheries and forestry arenas.

Partnerships One positive development is the increasing number of institutional partnerships, including FAO and ITTO.

The Convention needs also to acknowledge the de facto informal partnerships that exist with civil society, in particular the huge collective institutional memory of the trade, conservation and animal welfare NGOs.

The International Consortium to Combat Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), comprised of the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the World Customs Organisation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the World Bank, is a new concept, and one that needs to be replicated at national and regional levels with the relevant analogous bodies.

Crossroads The Rio+20 Conference in 2012 recognised CITES as a Convention that stands at the crossroads between environment, trade and development. In many other ways, too, CITES is at a crossroads.

Mexico, however, is a country that represents the brightest aspects of the Convention’s future. It negotiates skilfully on behalf of a suite of like-minded countries. Yet it is also innovative and courageous in advancing the core conservation objectives of CITES. Through its participation in the Committees, through its co-sponsorship of contested proposals, through its role in bringing forward the discussions on non-detriment findings, and through its hosting of the most recent meetings of the Scientific Committees, its contribution to CITES far exceeds what could be expected.