Amsterdam - The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora will meet for the first time ever in a European Union country when it convenes Sunday in The Hague, with ivory trade expected to be a major debating point. CITES, established in 1973, has some 30,000 species of wild animals and plants listed for protection, making it the world's biggest tool for biodiversity conservation.
A new feature this year is that a special ministerial meeting takes place June 13, an initiative by the conference host, the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
Holland is one of the largest importers and exporters of flora, fauna and derivative products.
The 171 member states will discuss some 40 new proposals presented by participating governments. Many reflect growing international concern about the accelerating destruction of the world's marine and forest resources through overfishing and excessive logging.
Others seek to advance the protection or sustainable use of diverse plants, reptiles, birds and mammals.
"For over 30 years CITES has played an important role in ensuring that the wildlife trade is managed sustainably and does not threaten the survival of any species," said Executive Director Achim Steiner of the United Nations Environment Programme, which administers the CITES secretariat.
"The acute challenges of the 21st century make CITES more relevant today than ever before," he added.
The debate about ivory trade is expected to dominate at the conference.
CITES banned international commercial ivory trade in 1989 but in 1997, recognizing that some southern African elephant populations were healthy and well managed, it permitted Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to make a one-time sale of a stock of ivory to Japan totalling 50 tonnes. The sales took place in 1999, earning some 5 million dollars.
In 2002, CITES agreed in principle to allow a second sale from Botswana (20 tonnes), Namibia (10 tonnes) and South Africa (30 tonnes). But in 2004 a request that CITES authorize annual quotas was not agreed.
The one-time sales were made conditional on the ability of the MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) programme to establish up-to-date and comprehensive baseline data on elephant poaching and population levels. MIKE provided an objective assessment of what impact ivory sales had on elephant populations and poaching.
This year Botswana and Namibia jointly submitted a proposal to maintain the elephant populations while easing conditions for permitting future sales of ivory.
Kenya and Mali simultaneously proposed a 20-year ivory trade ban. They argue that allowing any trade in ivory will increase the poaching of elephants.
Andreas Dinkelmeijer of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), one of lobbyists at CITES, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa his organisation supports the Kenya-Mali proposal.
"If you allow limited ivory sale, you still enhance illegal sale. One cannot discern legally from illegally ivory once the elephant is killed," he said, while noting that ivory sales are so controversial because they are so profitable.
"One kilogram costs 850 dollars. It is mostly processed in souvenirs or hangers. Most consumers don't know you need to kill elephants to harvest the ivory. Many also don't know the product they buy contains ivory. And in Japan, people buy ivory because it is a status symbol, like diamonds," Dinkelmeijer said.
Legislator Esther Ouwehand of the Animal Party (PvdD) told dpa she is "disappointed" Gerda Verburg, Dutch minister of Agriculture, refused to express Holland's position on the ivory ban proposal.
"No EU ministers express their position until the African continent has. This shows a lack of courage," she said.
Ouwehand and three other Dutch legislators participate in CITES. Ouwehand calls the conference "very important" but doubts important steps will be taken.
"It is too big a body to expect any concrete results that will improve the situation for animals and plants," she said.
