International trade in endangered species: the challenges and successes of the 17th conference of parties to the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES)

Abstract

The Conference of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) provides the platform for global collaboration on international trade in endangered species. Only four CITES CoPs have ever been held in Africa, including in 2016 the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) in Johannesburg, South Africa. African nations recognize that illegal wildlife trade is now a major threat to environmental integrity, undermines good governance, threatens security and reduces revenue from sustainable economic utilization such as wildlife-based tourism (London Declaration, 2014; Kasane Statement, 2015). CoP17 was an opportunity to build and strengthen cooperation to conserve the iconic landscapes, cultures and species of Africa. In force since 1975, CITES aims to limit the impact of international trade in driving wild species to extinction. It provides a legally binding framework to ensure that any export, re-export, import or introduction from the sea of a specimen of a species, including any readily recognizable parts or derivative thereof, is restricted to legally acquired specimens and would not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild. CITES applies only to species listed in its three appendices. At each CoP, Parties evaluate the vulnerability of species to trade-driven declines, based on biological and/or commercial criteria. Appendix I provides the highest protection to ‘species threatened with extinction, which are or may be affected by trade’. Trade in these species must only be authorized in exceptional circumstances. Appendix II species are not yet threatened with extinction but may become so unless trade is strictly regulated. Appendix III includes species subject to national regulation for which the concerned Party seeks the support of others to control international trade. Over 3500 delegates participated, from 152 of the 183 CITES Parties (including all 53 African Parties), as well as international organizations, nongovernmental organizations and media. Corruption, cybercrime, rural communities and domestic trade were covered in over 90 agenda items and more than 120 documents, including resolutions and decisions, and 62 proposals for amendment of Appendices I and II. Stakes for Africa were high. What are the key outcomes? Decisions of importance to Africa primarily related to listing of species in Appendix I or Appendix II (see CoP17 proposals and outcomes), but also included resolutions on demand-reduction strategies and guidelines to combat illegal trade, hunting trophies and ivory stockpile management. Through transfer from Appendix II to Appendix I, Parties voted to ban inaternational trade in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus), one of the most traded birds in the world (UNEP-WCMC Trade Database, 2015), and in all African pangolin species (Manis gigantea, Manis temminckii, Manis tetradactyla and Manis tricuspis1 ), the world's most illegally traded wild mammal (Challender, Waterman & Baillie, 2014). Other successes were the listings in Appendix II of several species of sharks, Carcharhinus falciformis and Alopias spp, cosponsored by many African Parties. These decisions contribute significantly to strengthening sustainable fisheries management and conservation through traceability of commercial exploitation. African Parties also showed leadership in the Appendix II listings of less famous African species of significant ecological value, such as pygmy chameleons and six softshell turtles of the family Trionychidae. Increasing demand for rosewood and other precious tropical timber has resulted in the decline of wild populations, well documented in the submitted proposals (E-CoP17-Prop-55; E-CoP17-Prop-56; E-CoP17-Prop-57). This led to the Appendix II listing of all taxa of Dalbergia not in Appendix I, as well as Pterocarpus erinaceus, Guibourtia tessmannii, Guibourtia pellegriniana and look-alike species2 Guibourtia demeusei. That is an important step towards sustainable forest management, enabling countries to fight against commercial overexploitation, through improved regulation of legal trade, based on non-detriment findings, while reducing illegal logging. These decisions illustrate Africa's efforts to promote transparency and principles of sustainable use of biological diversity against short-term detrimental economic exploitation. Although African countries exhibited a united front to address illegal trade in the species above, positions on the trade in rhinos, and particularly in African populations of lions (Panthera leo) and elephants (Loxodonta africana), resulted in divergent views. Lions are in continuous decline in the majority of range states (Bauer et al., 2015), but did not get the highest level of protection under CITES, despite the increasing trade in bones and claws (Williams et al., 2015). The CoP17 adopted decisions to further investigate the lion bone trade, prohibit trade from wild sources and strictly regulate trade from captive breeding facilities. Although 32 African countries argued that any legal trade in elephant ivory stimulates illegal poaching in West, Central and Eastern Africa (Thouless et al., 2016), the U.S.A., the majority of SADC countries, and especially the EU, the first Regional Economic Integration Organization to be accepted as Party in July 2015 (with 28 votes), voted against Appendix I listing, due to lack of absolute consensus between African range states and a fear that some protrade nations would take out trade exceptions proving even more fateful for the species. Nevertheless, the decisions adopted to further investigate ivory markets and to urge Parties to close domestic markets that contribute to poaching and illegal trade will assist in addressing key areas of concern. The effective implementation of these decisions as well as the African Elephant Action Plan, adopted by all African elephant range states, should be prioritized. Clearly, there needs to be increased exchange and understanding between southern Africa, where managed trade is considered a critical conservation tool, and the other African countries that have struggled to manage illegal trade in high-value species. It is undeniable that CITES is a useful tool, but expected results can only be obtained if Parties effectively implement and enforce national CITES legislation, consistent with the provisions of the Convention. The CITES secretariat categorizes Parties based on whether national legislation meets the requirements for CITES implementation. Category 1 Parties are fully compliant, Category 2 Parties are only partially compliant, and Category 3 Parties are noncompliant. In Africa, only 20% of Parties are in Category 1, nearly 40% are Category 2 and over 40% are Category 3 (CITES Secretariat, 2016). Of seventeen Parties reported as requiring priority attention to the implementation of national laws, eleven are in Africa. A step forward for African conservation and sustainable development would be support to all Parties for effective CITES implementation. Where such support and oversight is lacking, local corruption can facilitate improper or even fraudulent CITES permits being granted. To end on a positive note, a conservation success story to report for Africa is the downlisting from Appendix I to II of the Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) based on the recovery of the species from under 100 individuals in the 90s to more than 5000 today. Africa remains committed to conserve its wildlife. It is essential for African countries to continue to engage and collaborate to ensure the continent is united at 2019s CoP18 in Sri Lanka.