9 May 2016
CITES Parties Submit Proposals and Amendments in Advance of CoP17
story highlights

The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has published the measures, including resolutions and proposals to amend the CITES Appendices, slated to be discussed during the forthcoming seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to the Convention.

cites_cop17May 2016: The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has published the measures, including resolutions and proposals to amend the CITES Appendices, slated to be discussed during the forthcoming seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to the Convention.

Some of the proposals include: transferring all African lion populations from Appendix II to Appendix I, in light of the fact that the species is inferred to have undergone a reduction of approximately 43% over the past 21 years; altering an existing annotation on the Appendix II listing of Swaziland’s white rhinoceros so as to permit a limited and regulated trade in white rhino horn, which has been collected in the past from natural deaths, or recovered from poached Swazi rhino, as well as horn to be harvested in a non-lethal way from a limited number of white rhino in Swaziland; to move all populations of African elephant in Appendix I through the transfer from Appendix II to Appendix I of the populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe; to transfer all the remaining pangolin species to Appendix I; and to transfer the Peregrine falcon to Appendix II.

The CoP17 agenda also features 115 working documents that analyze a wide range of wildlife trade issues, and recommend new measures and policies concerning international trade. They include: a proposal by the EU on hunting trophies of species listed in Appendix I or II in light of concerns raised about the sustainability of such trade when it represents a large share of the overall trade in the affected species; and a proposal by South Africa on trade in hunting trophies, which asks parties to consider the contribution of hunting to conservation, socio-economic development and wildlife conservation when considering stricter domestic measures and making decisions relating to the import of trophies.

A total of 175 documents were received by the 27 April deadline and will be discussed at CoP17, to be held from 24 September to 5 October 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This will be the first meeting of the CoP following the 2015 adoption by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) of a resolution (A/RES/69/314) on tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife, as well as the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which call for in target 15.7, “urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products.” [CITES CoP17 Website] [EU CoP17 Website] [UNGA Resolution] [IISD RS Story on UNGA Resolution] [Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform] [IISD RS Sources]


related events