Let’s take a break from ecological doom-saying for a moment. Tigers are among the species that have received good news recently, as in this Nepal report : https://tinyurl.com/ybcvspe2
Back in 2011, I looked at the tiger issue in another light, as a UN Special reporter, interviewing the head of UN wildlife-conservation agency CITES
by David Winch
UN Special magazine, February 2011
GENEVA — Successes may seem few and far between in the world of conservation and saving the wild environment. But at UN agency CITES in Geneva, 30 or so staff find some victories that are easy to remember. For example, the little vicuna, native to the Andes region and looking like a miniature llama or a camel cloaked in a bundle of wool, saw its herds hunted to the point of collapse by the mid-1970s. Only 6,000 remained. After a vigorous evaluation and assessment effort, range States in the Andes agreed on restricted hunting and trade. With help from CITES, the herds have recovered to the point where they are “of least concern” to regulators – herds today number 350,000 and are rising.
Still, there are threats everywhere. Tigers, bluefin tuna, coral reefs, tropical snakes – many species seem headed for the brink. CITES, based on a 1975 convention “created to ensure that international trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”, seeks to replace the anarchy and pillage with some order.
Tiger summit
In November 2010, for example, an International Tiger Forum was hosted by Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, Russia. All 13 states with tigers remaining in the wild have signed a high-level political declaration and endorsed a Global Tiger Recovery Programme. The programme aims to double tiger numbers from the current low of 3,200 by the year 2022 – the next Chinese Year of the Tiger. Heads of government from Bangladesh, China, Laos and Nepal also attended the Forum.
CITES Secretary-General, John Scanlon, was impressed with the start: “The results of the International Tiger Forum represent an unprecedented effort by Heads of Government and senior Ministers to save a single species. It is quite literally ‘the last roll of the dice’ for the survival of the tiger in the wild, and this level of political support and commitment is just what is needed. Coupled with strong support coming from a broad range of entities, including the World Bank … and the WWF, the outcomes of the Forum ensure the survival of the tiger in the wild is given its best chance.”
Some CITES measures are controversial. The regulation and oversight of ivory sales, including clearing out the stocks accumulated in countries such as Tanzania and Zambia, is one. Some purists would prefer to suppress entirely the trade in ivory. Why accept having elephants killed for ornamental uses?
CITES counsels a realist approach – the demand continues to exist, particularly in Asia – hence prudent and regulated trade can respond to this demand. This reduces poaching and does not endanger elephant herds.
By considering approval for the sale of 110 tons of ivory by Tanzania and Zambia in a one-off transaction, CITES could help direct funds to communities that lived in the periphery of the elephant range and needed support. And the MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) programme follows up on causes of mortality and the illegal trade in Africa and Asia. But beside the successes such as the vicuna, the resurgent crocodile, the steady African elephant herds or the regulated Saga antelope in Central Asia, and some wild plants subject to illegal trade, the overall picture remains cloudy.
Ambitious goals
UN Special met in January 2011 with the new CITES Secretary-General at its HQ in the Maison de l’Environnement in Geneva. Australian John Scanlon was named to the post that year and his biography includes several highprofile environmental posts, such as being head of the environment law programme at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Scanlon is cautiously optimistic, especially given the number of States who are now members of the organization and cooperate with CITES.
It was established by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, subsequent to the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Environment, to protect plant and animal species. The convention is now signed and ratified by 175 countries.
The agency’s initial goals were framed in a pessimistic context: In the early 1970s, on account of illicit trade (the elephant for ivory; the rhino for its horn), stocks of some of the biggest and most photogenic wild species were entering a downward spiral. The idea of creating an alternative, commercial harvest spread widely. The future of animal and plant commerce could either be regulated, or stagger on in the anarchy of poaching and the threat of extinction.
Sustainable trade
This pressure has been increased in subsequent decades by “rising consumption patterns”, says Scanlon, in part due to globalization. As well, in “some parts of the world”’ endangered species (such as the Saga antelope) are pursued for their use in traditional medicines. The hot issues on the CITES agenda come thick and fast: the threatened sturgeon and its caviar harvest; the issue of law enforcement, with crime syndicates facing new laws; an African elephant action plan (in 37 range states), and plans to identify and store species via DNA.
There are, however, high-profile conservation issues on which the CITES role is voluntarily reduced. On whale issues, it defers to the International Whaling Commission. Its role is not clear-cut as regards “invasive alien species” (kudza plant, toads), which increasingly transported continent to continent as pets or products. The plants covered by CITES are wild plants and not agricultural, farm-based crops.
For the 2008–13 period, Scanlon emphasizes CITES strategic vision: being “better, more coherent”; having better finances; and more State cooperation (on biodiversity issues, etc.)
Indeed, much in our future environment depends on CITES’ success.
