Endangered species treaty prompts environmental reforms in countries -- UN agency

Noting the success of sanctions and other incentives in the battle to protect endangered species, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced that it has decided to lift or modify trade measures imposed on countries in response to pledges by their governments to reform their wildlife management and commercial practices.

Responding to pledges by the United Arab Emirates concerning birds of prey, UNEP’s Standing Committee on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) instituted a three-phase withdrawal of its recommendation to suspend trade with that country.

The Committee also approved new enlarged quotas for the caviar trade and sturgeon meat exports from the five Caspian Sea countries after they established the “first-ever unified system for surveying and managing sturgeon stocks.” One of the five – the Russian Federation – also committed to establish quotas for domestic markets.

Fiji's Government promised to enact national protective legislation before the end of 2002 and to impose quotas on the export of coral, resulting in a decision to lift the suspension on its trade. Meanwhile, the enactment of CITES legislation in Viet Nam – a country UNEP described as “rich in wildlife resources” – resulted in the lifting of trade sanctions on that country.

Committee Chairman Kenneth Stansell said these reforms demonstrated that “the CITES regime is effective because we can create powerful incentives for motivating Governments to follow rules and cooperate with each other.”

Adopted in 1973 to ensure the long-term survival of species threatened by international trade, the CITES Convention currently has 153 member governments.