Posted on November, 11 2002

Big news for mahogany The incoming government of Brazil, the Workers Party (PT), is supporting the listing of bigleaf mahogany in CITES Appendix II. WWF welcomed this dramatic intervention in a press statement. New proposals for elephants The Conference of Parties (CoP) adopted a resolution and decision on trade in elephant ivory and other products, as submitted by consensus of the African Elephant Range countries. A key element for WWF, which we intervened in support of, is a decision that establishes a procedure to assess the legislative, regulatory, control, and enforcement measures of countries with active internal ivory markets, and make recommendations for improvements for those countries without adequate measures. Of note is a provision whereby the Standing Committee will review the findings of the Secretariat, which could result in trade bans on non-compliant countries. This represents a significant step forward in efforts to control the illegal ivory trade. The CoP then commenced the discussion on the ivory trade proposals from Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The proponents submitted revised proposals, which would have allowed trade in hunting trophies and leather goods for non-commercial purposes, live animals for re-introduction, a one-time ivory stockpile sale, and annual quotas. The annual quota provision is the most problematic. The one-time sale would be subject to certain conditions, including the verification of baseline MIKE (Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants) data, and controls in importing countries. After extensive discussion, the U.S. proposed an amendment to allow the one-time sale only after the 2004 Standing Committee and under its supervision. It would allow the sale unless the Standing Committee determines that MIKE is not operational and reporting baseline data in both Africa and Asia. WWF will speak on the issue in tomorrow’s session. For further information: Matthew Davis, WWF Species Programme, tel.: +56 960 56 571, e-mail: mdavis@wwf.org.uk Olivier van Bogaert, WWF International, tel.: +41 79 477 35 72 or +56 96056950, e-mail: ovanbogaert@wwfint.org