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The two-year Improving governance of wildlife resources through enhancement of CITES implementation and sustainable use practices in Mexico saw enforcement officers in more than 80% of seaports, airports and borders crossings in the country receiving high quality tools, information and training on priority wildlife trade issues.
The project’s training and development of materials focused on relevant national and international legislation and on wildlife trade issues, including marine turtle trade, identification of cacti, orchids and reptile skins, and how to handle raptors, parrots and other birds.
More than 1,100 pieces of specialist animal handling equipment and tools to enable identification of tropical timbers were donated to 72 border checkpoints and official wildlife centres in Mexico.
The project, undertaken in collaboration with the General Attorney for the Protection of Environment (PROFEPA) and the Wildlife Directorate (DGVS) of Mexico’s Environmental Ministry (SEMARNAT), was so successful it is being used as a model for similar activities in countries elsewhere in the region, including Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
“The Improving Governance project demonstrates the United Kingdom’s keen interest to help establish the necessary conditions to ensure Mexico’s extraordinary biodiversity is conserved,” said Robert Fitchett, Deputy Chief of Mission with the British Embassy in Mexico.
Mexico is a country with exceptionally high biological diversity, although like many developing nations these resources are under extreme pressure, reinforcing the need to establish best practices to combat illegal trade and non-sustainable use of flora and fauna.
“Mexico is the world’s fourth most biologically diverse country and number two in terms of ecosystem diversity,” said Adrian Reuter, TRAFFIC’s National Representative in Mexico.
“A staggering ten percent of the world’s animal and plant terrestrial species live in Mexico: it is a global natural treasure that we simply cannot afford to lose.”
четверг, 31 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - Successful project to combat illegal and unsustainable trade in Mexico
среда, 30 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - Reptile and amphibian reporting needs tightening: new study
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Authors Vincent Nijman of Oxford Brookes University and Chris R. Shepherd of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia examined how records supplied to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on the commercial trade in reptiles and amphibians exported to Thailand between 1990 and 2007 reflected changes in trends, species composition and numbers of wild-caught versus captive-bred specimens.
The study’s most startling find was that Thailand reported the import of more than 10,000 captive-bred, live individuals (of 51 species) originating from Kazakhstan between 2004 and 2006, yet Kazakhstan reports no direct exports of these species to Thailand.
The exports included 2,700 frogs, 4,078 chameleons, 700 lizards and 2,600 tortoises.
There were similar discrepancies, although involving much smaller numbers, with the reported import of reptiles into Thailand from Macao.
“Such discrepancies either indicate a high degree of misreporting or possibly violations of the rules and intentions of CITES,” said Nijman.
Nijman points out that the bulk of captive-bred specimens imported into Thailand were from Kazakhstan and Lebanon.
Lebanon is not a signatory to CITES and all exports of captive-bred reptiles and amphibians from Kazakhstan to Thailand were either re-exported via Lebanon or Macao—a Special Administrative Region of China, hence not itself a Party to CITES.
“The capacity for facilities in Lebanon to produce the claimed number of captive-bred tortoises in trade has previously been called into question, and it appears the same concerns apply to the trade in captive-bred amphibians and reptiles too,” said Shepherd.
“These findings should be setting off alarm bells among CITES authorities. The findings call for intense scrutiny into the global trade of reptiles and amphibians declared as captive-bred.”
According to the study,The role of Thailand in the international trade in CITES-listed live reptiles and amphibians, between 1990 and 2007, Thailand imported 75,594 individuals of 169 species of reptiles and amphibians, 27 of them globally threatened species. Four out of every five animals was listed as captive-bred.
Wild-caught individuals were mainly sourced from Africa, particularly Madagascar, and included hundreds of Endangered and Critically Endangered species such as Golden, Blue-legged and Green Mantella frogs.
The authors found a rapid increase in both numbers of reptiles and amphibians and the species diversity imported into Thailand after 2003, plus wide variation in the proportion of captive-bred animals reported—varying between zero and 80% some years—and significant discrepancies between exports and imports.
Thailand was chosen for the study because of its role as a key hub in the global wildlife trade, importing reptiles from Africa and South Asia for onward distribution within South-East Asia and East Asia. The ever increasing role of South-East Asia in the global pet trade has been attributed at least partly to the rising affluence in the region.
вторник, 29 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - Indian Tiger numbers burning brighter
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“Today’s figures are an encouraging sign that the Indian government’s measures to curtail poaching may be beginning to have a real impact on Tiger numbers,” said Steven Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC International.
The latest total includes 70 Tigers found in the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, which was not counted in the previous survey because of the difficulty of surveying mangrove habitats. This time round, camera-traps and DNA analysis were used to estimate Tiger numbers in the Reserve.
But even without the Sundarbans, the latest figures indicate a 12% rise in the overall Indian Tiger population, which Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh described as“a very encouraging sign.”
India, with more than 45,000 square km of forest area within 39 designated Tiger reserves, hosts approximately half of the world’s wild Tiger population.
“While the latest figures from India are certainly encouraging, we should not be complacent,” said Broad.
“Any gains in Tiger numbers will soon be undone unless Tiger habitats are maintained and increased, and Tiger poaching and trade is suppressed; there is still a long way to go to achieve the stated international ambition of a doubling in Tiger numbers by 2020.”
Numbering more than 100,000 at the turn of the last century, Tigers have lost more than 97 percent of their population and 94 percent of their home range in the past 100 years, and are under high poaching pressure because of the demand for Tiger parts, including bones, claws and skin from East Asia, where they are used in traditional medicine.
“Although there are signs of hope from India, the Tiger nevertheless remains in crisis across much of Asia,” said Broad.
The latest Tiger census figures were released at the start of a three-day international conference on Tiger conservation taking place this week in Delhi.
The conference brings together Tiger experts to review implementation of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP), a worldwide plan finalized by world leaders at the historicTiger summit last November in St. Petersburg, Russia, to bring Tigers back from the brink of extinction.
In Delhi, high-level government representatives from Tiger range countries will present their national priority actions for implementation of the GTRP in 2011, with international partners outlining their support to assist these actions.
Partners include the World Bank’s Global Tiger Initiative, the Global Tiger Forum, and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) plus key NGOs including TRAFFIC and WWF.
вторник, 22 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - 180 kg of wildlife seized in Central Viet Nam
The seizure on 7th March included 173 turtles weighing 152 kg, among them 8 Big-headed TurtlesPlatysternon megacephalumwhich is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
The haul also included two porcupines (16.5 kg) and two monitor lizards (9 kg).
According toDan Trinewspaper, the driver, a Vietnamese national from the neighbouring province of Ha Tinh, confessed to transporting the animals from Lao PDR to be eaten in Nghe An Province.
The case has been transferred to the provincial Forest Protection Department.
Nghe An Province is located in north-central Viet Nam on the border with Lao PDR. It is also the site of an increasing number of wildlife seizures, often as wildlife from Lao PDR is transported to major cities and markets in Viet Nam.
Vietnamese officials are increasingly cracking down on the illegal trade in wild animals.
Last week the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism issued an instruction that could potentially rescind the international travel business licenses of travel agencies that organize tours to bear farms where bears are illegally kept and bile is extracted.
Although illegal, tours to bear farms for bear bile extraction are popular, especially among Asian tourists. Thousands of bears are known to be kept in enclosures on“bear farms” for the extraction of bile.
четверг, 17 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - Tiger parts seized during restaurant raid
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Officers from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) in Pahang, a state on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, found close to 17 kilogrammes of Common Barking Deer meat, two skinned Mouse Deer, 54 Argus Pheasant feathers, a White-breasted Waterhen when they raided the man’s house and shop in a raid yesterday (15th March).
The dried Tiger parts were found in a sealed glass jar along with dried parts of several other animals, which will be sent for forensic analysis.
The find of Tiger parts in the suspect’s possession is significant because his village of Kubang Rusa in Merapoh, lies within the country’s most important Tiger corridor, said Pahang Perhilitan Director Khairiah Mohd Shariff.
This corridor, Sungai Yu, is a critical link between the Taman Negara national park and the Main Range, two of Malaysia’s most important Tiger landscapes, as identified in the country’s Tiger Conservation Action Plan.
The suspect is a second-time offender, having been convicted in 2008 for possession of Barking Deer meat without a permit. He could face two charges under Section 68 of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 for keeping the Tiger parts and Argus Pheasant feathers without a permit. Unlawful possession of some totally protected species such as Tigers, also carries a mandatory jail requirement under this law.
The suspect also faces another three charges under Section 60 of the same Act for keeping the protected White-breasted Waterhen and exotic meats without a permit. He is out on bail pending trial.
In two other operations this month, Perhilitan Pahang seized Wild Boar meat from two houses in the town of Triang and are expected to charge two local men and a woman for being in possession of the meat without a licence. And earlier in February, officers also seized a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and two Blue-crowned Hanging-parrots from a man in the town of Janda Baik.
All suspects face heavy fines under the new law which came into force last December.
So far this year Perhilitan Pahang has also seized four guns from people who have committed hunting offences in the State, including one home-made gun.
Khairiah expressed concern over the abuse of weapons for illegal hunting and told a press conference that the Department would not hesitate to use its powers under the new law to confiscate guns under these circumstances and seek police assistance to revoke an offender’s licence to carry and use a gun.
"It is wildlife traders such as this one that have given Malaysia a reputation as being a poaching hotspot and trade hub. These criminals are posing a serious threat to the continual survival of many increasingly threatened species,"says TRAFFIC Southeast Asia's Regional Deputy Director Chris R. Shepherd.
"The authorities are to be applauded for taking action, especially in such a critical Tiger landscape. TRAFFIC urges the authorities to penalize this man and others like him to the full extent of the law to deter further such crime, and to demonstrate just how serious they are about protecting Malaysia's natural heritage,"he said.
среда, 16 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - Strengthening wildlife law enforcement in India
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The meeting informed enforcement officers from Customs, CID personnel and officials from the West Bengal Forest Department about the latest tools and techniques available to fight illicit wildlife trade and also gave them an overview of the scale of organized wildlife crime worldwide.
In India, the products most frequently encountered in illegal wildlife trade are mongoose hair, snakeskin, rhino horn, Tiger and leopard claws, bones, skins, whiskers, elephant tusks, deer antlers, turtle shells, musk pods, bear bile, medicinal plants, timber and birds such as parakeets, mynas and munias.
Kolkata, being well connected with sea, air and land routes provides ample opportunities for smuggling of wildlife goods. It is a major route for ivory, live birds and the pet animal trade. Kolkata is also a centre for illicit trade in Star Tortoises and just before the workshop, on 9th March, more than 100 tortoises were found on a train in Howrah.
Inaugurating the workshop, Dr A K Raha (PCCF- West Bengal Forest Department) said that such multi-agency training is necessary for strengthening enforcement efforts that will help conserve the precious biodiversity of the country.
Mr Samir Sinha, Head of TRAFFIC India stressed the need for increased co-operation between various enforcement agencies for fighting wildlife crime. He also talked about broadening the scope of conservation to beyond just the well-known charismatic species that are threatened by illegal wildlife trade.
Resource material provided to the participants included a printed compendium, CDs on various related themes and other materials including a copy of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, CRPC manual and various books and posters pertaining to wildlife law and enforcement issues.
A wildlife forensic sample collection kit developed jointly by the Wildlife Institute of India and TRAFFIC was also distributed to participants to enable field staff to collect samples for forensic analysis.
The workshop was the fourth in a series organized as part of a collaborative effort between the Government of India, the UK Government, TRAFFIC and the Wildlife Institute of India, for dissemination of knowledge and skills for combating wildlife crime across the country.
For more information, please contact: Mr Samir Sinha, 09868144462 and 011- 41504786/43516290.
среда, 9 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - Voices from the Amazon
TheVoices for sustainable forestrySpanish-language videos form an educational series that can be viewed on the internet and are useful for community radio shows, in schools and for media use.
“Hearing and seeing an expert explain an issue can be a far more effective form of communication than reading a written technical document,” says TRAFFIC South America’s Ana Puyol, co-ordinator of the programme.
“The videos make it easy to gain access to the best information available.”
Although the lectures are focused on Ecuador, many of the topics and challenges facing forestry communities are shared with other countries in the region.
“These common problems are regional. Many of the challenges we experience in Ecuador are the same in other countries where the Amazonian forest is under threat.”
Topics covered range from explaining forest ecosystems, the dilemmas faced by indigenous communities, forest laws and most importantly forest governance.
Puyol hopes the videos may one day become part of the national teacher-training curriculum and is also at work making short online courses aimed at giving the media sound background information on forestry issues.
четверг, 3 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - WCO’s Operation GAPIN yields spectacular results
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The seizures included came from more than 31 species, including one live Barbary MacaqueMacaca sylvanus, two dead macaques, 295 pieces of ivory (statues, jewellery, chopsticks, etc), 57 kg of raw ivory, four rhino horns, 4,726 kg of pangolin meat, 323 seahorses, and one leopard skin.
Most of the seizures and/or detentions were made in Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa with the balance made in countries outside Africa: Belgium, China, the Czech Republic, France, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Viet Nam.
More than 100 seizures of wildlife protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) were made during the two-week transregional operation in January and February 2011 to combat the illegal cross-border trade in great apes and other wildlife species including their derivatives.
This initiative was conducted within the Framework of Project GAPIN—Great Apes and Integrity—which is financed by the Swedish Government and designed to stem illegal trade flows whilst cracking down on corrupt practices that help to fuel illicit trafficking.
Increasing wildlife crime and associated corruption is a matter of grave concern to governments and the international community; being on the frontline at international border crossings enables Customs to play a critical role in the fight against transnational organized crime which is more often than not linked to the smuggling of endangered species.
Other products detained during the operation and undergoing further investigation to determine their exact CITES status include: 5,300 kg of shark fins, 12,056 pieces of seashells, 11,250 kg of sea cucumbers and 1,000 kg of eel intestines.
“The World Customs Organization and its 177 Member Customs administrations remain committed to protecting the earth’s natural heritage through effective border enforcement,” said WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya.
“Enhancing Customs’ application of export controls on protected wildlife through capacity building and raising the awareness of frontline Customs officers on the dangers posed by corruption has ensured the success of this important transregional operation.”
Operation GAPIN was preceded by a one-week intensive, specialized capacity building training session in Mombasa, Kenya, for frontline Customs officials in December 2010, which focused on building the capability of officers to tackle wildlife smuggling more effectively and to identify integrity and corruption issues more readily.
Some of the countries participating in the training session made significant interceptions during the actual operation and moreover, Viet Nam Customs seized 1.2 tonnes of ivory shipped from Tanzania via Singapore just prior to the start of the operation.
“The WCO will continue its drive to build the capacity of Customs administrations across the globe to protect endangered wild fauna and flora through efficient and effective border enforcement in cooperation with its international, regional and national partners,” said Secretary General Mikuriya.
A total of 14 African countries participated in the operation, supported by 25 countries in Asia and Europe as well as the CITES Secretariat, the WCO Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices, the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, and national CITES management authorities, wildlife enforcement agencies and in some countries the police.
“The WCO are to be congratulated on the success of Operation GAPIN which underlines the value both of training of enforcement officers and international co-operation in tackling transnational wildlife crime,” said Steven Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC.
среда, 2 марта 2011 г.
TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - Too little done to address trade threat to Asia’s tortoises and freshwater turtles
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Seventy experts who gathered in Singapore last week for theConservation of Asian Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles Workshopto evaluate the current status of these species in Asia found the vast majority of are nearing extinction in the wild, and very little has been done to address the problem.
The meeting reported that illegal and unsustainable trade was the greatest threat to the survival of this highly threatened group of species and found that laws and conventions in place to protect these animals were simply not being enforced.;)
Seventy-two of Asia’s 86 species of tortoises and freshwater turtles were assessed at the Singapore meeting, which was hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore Group and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), in collaboration with the Turtle Survival Alliance, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, San Diego Zoo Global and the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group.
The Malaysian Giant TurtleOrlitia borneensis, one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world and found only in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra, is now listed as Critically Endangered due to illegal collection and export for its meat. The Burmese Star TortoiseGeochelone platynota, endemic to Myanmar, is thought to be possibly extinct in the wild due to relentless poaching for the international pet trade.
Being driven to extinction by unregulated trade: the Southeast Asia Box TurtleCuora amboinensisClick photo to enlarge© Chris R Shepherd / TRAFFIC SOutheast AsiaAnother key finding of the meeting was the need for research to be carried out on wild populations to understand their status in the wild, natural history and current distribution better.
Experts also highlighted the need for increased monitoring of the trade that is considered the leading threat to all of these species. The urgent need for rescue centres and ex-situ assurance colonies was also raised.
Alarm bells were first sounded for Asia’s freshwater tortoises and turtles following a meeting of experts in 1999, held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, alerting the world to what was dubbed the Asian Turtle Crisis.
Asia’s tortoises and freshwater turtles were being harvested in massive quantities to supply the demand for meat and use in traditional medicines, mostly in East Asia. These species are also in demand as pets. Much of the trade is carried out illegally.
Approximately ten years later, experts again met and found the situation has gone from bad to worse.
Of Asia’s 86 species, close to 70 species (approximately 80%) are considered threatened. This is a dramatic increase since these species were assessed in 1999—a 90% increase in the number of Critically Endangered species alone.
While there have been some successes over the past decade, overall the battle is still being lost, said experts who also discussed current threats and prioritized actions necessary to save species from extinction.
“At the current rate of decline, we will lose many of Asia’s tortoises and freshwater turtle species forever, if international and national laws and conventions are not enforced,” said Chris R. Shepherd, Deputy Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group.
“Trade is the single greatest threat to tortoises and freshwater turtles– a species group that has been around since the days of the dinosaurs. Their future is now in the hands of policy makers, enforcement agencies and conservation bodies. To date, efforts to protect these species have been far from adequate. If effort and motivation to save these species is not greatly increased, we are going to lose many of these species .”
Shepherd urged authorities to make full use of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) under which many of Asia’s freshwater turtle and tortoise species are protected.
“The last ten years has shown that while it is possible to save these species from extinction, the threat of trade is still present and ever-growing,” said Colin Poole, Director, WCS Regional Hub.
“Of particular concern is the increasing impact of the pet trade on a number of tortoise species and the growth of the demand for dried carapace from softshell turtles sourced primarily in South Asia.”
Notes:
• The status of tortoises and freshwater turtles, as well as other useful information can be viewed by species at the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, at www.iucnredlist.org
• The report,Turtles in Trouble: the World’s top 25+ most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles, can be downloaded athttp://www.turtlesurvival.org/