CITES Safeguards Freshwater Turtles, Reef Fish, Fragrant Wood

BANGKOK, Thailand, October 13, 2004 (ENS) - The final round of species trade decisions took place today and Tuesday at the meeting of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Delegates from 166 governments, who meet every two years to update trade rules, decided to protect Asian freshwater turtles, a coral reef fish prized in Asian restaurants, and an aromatic resinous wood heavily poached acrosss its range.

The bald eagle, America's national bird, will be subject to limited commercial trade. (Photo courtesy USFWS)

Delegates decided to list three species listed under Appendix I, which allows no commercial trade - the Lilac-crowned Amazon parrot, the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, and the Malagasy spider tortoise.

Approving a proposal from Fiji, delegates voted to list the humphead wrasse on Appendix II. The lips and eyes of this wrasse are delicacies in Asia, and a single fish may be sold for hundreds of dollars.

An Appendix II listing was extended to many species of Asian freshwater turtles, prized for medicinal purposes and facing habitat loss from encroaching human populations and a growing popularity in the international pet trade.

“Several million turtles are traded each year for food and medicine and the demand is growing,” said Aster Zhang, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in China.

Chair Suvit Khunkitti (left), Thai Minister of Natural Resources with Jim Armstrong, CITES Deputy Secretary General Earth Negotiations Bulletin

“This decision is critical to save several species of Asian freshwater turtles that have been pushed to the very brink of extinction," he said.

Species which will receive greater protection from the Appendix II listing include the Malayan snail-eating turtle, the Malayan flat-shelled turtle, the Southeast Asian softshell turtle, the Pig-nosed turtle and the Roti snake-necked turtle.

The bushmeat trade - the marketing of wild animals for food that is responsible for the decline of many African and Asian species - was considered in a working group, but the CITES Secretariat noted in its report on the outcome of the working group that the bushmeat issue touches upon matters beyond CITES’ mandate.

The Republic of Congo delegate who chaired the bushmeat working group said the CITES work is valuable and proposed that it continue.

The European Union proposed working with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity on the bushmeat issue. Delegates approved a proposal to continue the working group, and a request to the FAO to convene another bushmeat working group.

David Morgan, Head of the CITES Scientific Support Unit (right) with Tom De Meulenaer, CITES Senior Scientific Officer (Photo courtesy Earth Negotiations Bulletin)

Conservationists hope that listing this wood for CITES protection will not only safeguard it from further depletion across Southeast Asia, but will also save more wild animals from agarwood poachers.

According to research conducted by WildAid from 1999 to the present, organized agarwood poaching gangs are illegally entering national parks across Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries to cut this tree in large numbers.

These illegal agarwood collectors use their time in the forest to lay traps and snares that indiscriminately kill all varieties of wildlife.

Agarwood sells for US$1,000 per kilo (2.2 pounds) in black markets in Bangkok and other cities. The war to stop this lucrative illegal trade has resulted in the deaths of several wildlife rangers at the hands of poachers.

Agarwood growing in India (Photo by Dr. AK Gupta courtesy TRAFFIC)

Steven Galster, director of WildAid Asia, said, "Illegal agarwood dealers take advantage of this look-alike problem and continue to sell whatever species they get their hands on, making it impossible for police to prosecute."

Wichar Thitiprasert, a Thai delgate from the Agriculture Department and recently elected Plants Committe member, was quoted as saying he was "pleased with the high majority support."

These are all decisions taken in committee which still must be approved by all the delegates in plenary session tomorrow, the last day of the meeting.

Conservationists were generally pleased with the outcomes, particularly the rejection of Japan's proposal to strip protection from minke whale populations and the Appendix II listing of the great white shark and humphead wrasse.