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CITES

What is CITES?
From the CITES web site:
"CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between Governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival."

CITES is an agreement between governments spawned in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union). Ten years later in 1973, the text of the Convention was agreed by 80 countries. Finally on 1 July 1975 CITES was implemented.

It is important to note, compliance to CITES by the member countries is voluntary. Members of CITES, known as Parties, agree to be bound by the Convention. When joining CITES, the Parties agree to adopt domestic legislation to implement CITES at the national level.

CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of species covered by the Convention to be authorized through a licensing system. The covered species fall into three categories:

1. Species threatened with extinction.



2. Species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.



3. Species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade.

Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering the licensing system and one or more Scientific Authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species.

By many accounts, CITES has been a success. As of this writing there are now 166 parties to CITES and not one species protected by CITES has become extinct as a result of trade since the Convention was implemented.

Elephant specific CITES programs/projects:

MIKE: Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants

The overall goal of MIKE is to provide information needed for elephant range States to make appropriate management and enforcement decisions, and to build institutional capacity within the range States for the long-term management of their elephant populations.

MIKE is not in itself an anti-poaching operation to stop the illegal killing of elephants, though the information MIKE produces may guide such efforts.

MIKE's goals are to measure levels and trends in the illegal hunting of elephants over time and to determine the factors causing or associated with any changes in these levels or trends. Another objective (and maybe the most important) of this project is to assess to what extent observed trends are a result of any decisions taken by the Conference of the Parties to CITES.

Although MIKE seems only elephant specific it also has benefits for overall ecosystem conservation. The Parties involved with MIKE have to develop their own capacity to collect MIKE information and begin to value this information as a basis for decision making. It also encourages real cross-border collaboration and removes the feeling in some sub-regions of being disadvantaged in terms of information.

ETIS: The Elephant Trade Information System

What is ETIS?
"ETIS is a comprehensive information system to track illegal trade in ivory and other elephant products."

The central component of ETIS is a database on seizures of elephant specimens that have occurred anywhere in the world since 1989. The objectives and goals of ETIS are the same as MIKE and CITES in general. This database coupled with the MIKE database helps Convention Parties make decisions on appropriate management, protection and enforcement needs.

Since its inception, ETIS has been managed by TRAFFIC on behalf of the CITES Parties and is currently housed at the TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa office in Harare, Zimbabwe.

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.

Conclusion:

Some of us, living in a state like Arizona where trees and shade are a premium, can not envision the need of cutting down a 500-year-old redwood tree. Some residents of northern California, where lumber is a way of life, may view this differently.

Some of us, living in North or South America where elephants are only seen in zoos or circuses, can not envision the need for an elephant being killed. Some residents of Africa or India, where elephants decimate crops, kill people, and elephant tusks may bring income to a poor family, may view this differently.

None of the people described above are inherently bad. They are just people with competing interests. Whether you believe elephants are a resource to be harvested or a treasure to be protected, CITES is a successful attempt to address the problem of competing interests in the Convention Parties. Again, not one species protected by CITES has become extinct as a result of trade since the Convention was implemented.

For further info:

CITES:  Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
MIKE:  Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants
ETIS:  The Elephant Trade Information System
TRAFFIC:  The wildlife trade monitoring network