Revisions to UN pact on wildlife to be discussed

BANGKOK – Tighter rules on marine life trade and looser ones on ivory were among the topics up for debate as delegates from around the world met yesterday for talks on changing an international treaty on wildlife trafficking.

More than 2 000 participants from 166 countries are in Bangkok for the two-week conference on the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or Cites. Cites aims to protect about 30 000 plant and animal species, many of them threatened with extinction due to trafficking.”Discussions can be tough, decisions difficult to make, results not always to everyone’s liking – there will be stress,” Willem Wijintekers, the Cites secretary general, said on Saturday.It is the first time the biennial meeting is being held in Southeast Asia.Host Thailand has already proposed an international security network to curb the region’s thriving trade in endangered species.Conservationists, government officials and trade lobbyists plan to debate about 50 proposals to prohibit or regulate commerce in certain species.Environmentalists say the trade in endangered species is a multibillion-dollar business – the world’s third-largest illicit enterprise after drug trafficking and black market arms sales.Some wildlife advocates criticise the agreement for lacking enforcement, and have urged Asian governments to set up a regional police force aimed at shutting down international syndicates.Demand for rare plants and animals – as food, medicine and zoo attractions – remains high in Asia.Namibia is expected to ask for the relaxation of a 1989 ban on ivory sales, giving the country an export limit of two tons of tusks and trinkets a year.It also wants rights to export goods made from the hair and skin of elephants that die naturally or are culled.Other African nations such as Kenya oppose the idea, and want a 20-year extension of the current ban.Kenya is also lobbying for a global ban on lion skins and other such trophies.Australia and Madagascar plan to call for tougher protection for great white sharks, often sought for their jaws, teeth, skin and fins.Japan – one of the few countries that continue to hunt whales despite an international ban on commercial whaling – will propose that the treaty allow some minke whales to be killed.Thailand will ask delegates to outlaw trade of the Irrawaddy dolphin, desired by aquariums across Asia, while pressing for fewer restrictions on the sale of certain orchids.- Nampa-APCites aims to protect about 30 000 plant and animal species, many of them threatened with extinction due to trafficking.”Discussions can be tough, decisions difficult to make, results not always to everyone’s liking – there will be stress,” Willem Wijintekers, the Cites secretary general, said on Saturday.It is the first time the biennial meeting is being held in Southeast Asia.Host Thailand has already proposed an international security network to curb the region’s thriving trade in endangered species.Conservationists, government officials and trade lobbyists plan to debate about 50 proposals to prohibit or regulate commerce in certain species.Environmentalists say the trade in endangered species is a multibillion-dollar business – the world’s third-largest illicit enterprise after drug trafficking and black market arms sales.Some wildlife advocates criticise the agreement for lacking enforcement, and have urged Asian governments to set up a regional police force aimed at shutting down international syndicates.Demand for rare plants and animals – as food, medicine and zoo attractions – remains high in Asia.Namibia is expected to ask for the relaxation of a 1989 ban on ivory sales, giving the country an export limit of two tons of tusks and trinkets a year.It also wants rights to export goods made from the hair and skin of elephants that die naturally or are culled.Other African nations such as Kenya oppose the idea, and want a 20-year extension of the current ban.Kenya is also lobbying for a global ban on lion skins and other such trophies.Australia and Madagascar plan to call for tougher protection for great white sharks, often sought for their jaws, teeth, skin and fins.Japan – one of the few countries that continue to hunt whales despite an international ban on commercial whaling – will propose that the treaty allow some minke whales to be killed.Thailand will ask delegates to outlaw trade of the Irrawaddy dolphin, desired by aquariums across Asia, while pressing for fewer restrictions on the sale of certain orchids.- Nampa-AP