Only a day after Thaksin Shinawatra, prime minister of host
country Thailand, noted that "the illegal trade in
wildlife...is surpassed only by trafficking in drugs and
weapons," delegates at the
13th Conference of the
Parties to the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora gave preliminary
approval for two countries to export a small but significant
number of the critically endangered black rhinoceros as hunting
trophies.
It was the first time since black rhinos were listed on
Appendix I that CITES delegates gave the nod to allow
international trade of the animals as hunting trophies.
Under the preliminary agreement reached on Monday, October
4, at CoP13 in Bangkok, Namibia and South Africa will be
allowed to export five black rhino hunting trophies per year.
The quota was approved in Committee I, a body whose agreements
still have to be approved by a gathering of all the delegates,
called a plenary, later in the meeting. The decision is a
victory for big game hunters, who will pay a reported $200,000
to kill a member of the species.
Coveted as trophies by hunters and threatened by illegal
poaching to obtain rhino horns for traditional Chinese
medicines, the number of African black rhinos has declined
precipitously in recent decades, from an estimated 65,000
rhinos in 1970 to fewer than 2,500 in 1995. Even with improved
protection, they are thought to number only about 3,100
today.
The proposals were adopted despite strong reservations from
several parties. Chad's government lamented that it recently
lost its last three remaining rhinos to poachers, and Kenya's
delegation expressed concerns that poaching of its small,
recovering rhino population would increase.
Humane Society International's Nicola Beynon noted that "in
reopening international trade" in rhinos, "CITES is sending a
dangerous message to the illegal traders."
Committee I also approved a proposal from Namibia and South
Africa to double their annual export quotas of leopards.
Namibia's quota was raised from 100 to 250 leopards, while
South Africa's was raised from 75 to 150.
Members of the Species
Survival Network immediately condemned the decisions. SSN
member Adam Roberts, representing both The Animal Welfare
Institute and Born Free USA, said his organization was urging
"parties opposed to these dangerous decisions to ask for these
vital conservation issues to be reconsidered when these
proposals are revisited by the full CITES plenary next
week."
Opening Statements and Secret
Ballots
Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin opened the meeting on
Saturday with a call for international cooperation in the fight
against illegal trade. Thaksin declared that "It is incumbent
on us to meet this challenge through serious conservation
efforts and stricter law enforcement."
Thaksin addressed the 1,500 international trade delegates
and representatives of observer organizations at the October 2
opening ceremony, which also included speeches from other Thai
and CITES dignitaries such as Thailand's Natural Resources and
Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, United Nations
Environment Program Executive Director Klaus Töpfer, and CITES
Secretary General Willem Wijnstekers.
On Sunday morning, CITES delegates met in a plenary session
to address administrative and strategic matters, including the
contentious issue of secret ballots. The Rules of Procedure
allow any party to request a secret ballot, which, if seconded
by ten others, would be held.
At the last CoP, the Chilean delegation sought to make it
harder to hold secret ballots by requiring that a third of the
parties present and voting second a request for a secret
ballot. At that time, the Standing Committee (CITES's governing
body between the CoPs) was directed to consider the issue.
At the Sunday morning meeting, the Standing Committee
reported its recommendation that no change be made to the
rules. Delegates from the European Union and the United States
responded that they believed secret ballots undermine
transparency and accountability. Some conservation-oriented
delegates and non-governmental organizations maintain that
secret ballots make it easier for parties to pass proposals
that promote trade. There have been accusations that delegates
hide behind secret ballots in an attempt to disguise their
voting.
The plenary also received reports from the Standing
Committee and three technical committees: the Animals
Committee, the Plants Committee, and the Nomenclature
Committee. The chairman of the Standing Committee reported that
its rules of procedure had been changed to allow the
participation of non-governmental organizations, a move
welcomed by many such organizations which participated in
recent Standing Committee meetings for the first time.
Although organizations had been allowed to make
presentations to the committee in the past, leaving after the
presentations were completed, full participation provides
organizations with greater access to party delegates, and
allows them to express their views on matters discussed by the
committee.
