CITES CoP13: Bangkok, Thailand, October 2-14 2004

WWF priorities

The XIIIth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP13) takes place in Bangkok, Thailand, October 2-14, 2004.

Particular items of importance to WWF that will be discussed include:

• Control of domestic ivory markets (as the driving force behind the continuing illegal international ivory trade)
• Conservation and management of saiga antelope
• Humphead wrasse
• Ramin (a tree often used for Venetian blinds and furniture)
• Great white shark
• Irrawaddy dolphin

Asean Wildlife Trade Initiative

The newly launched joint WWF/TRAFFIC ASEAN Initiative takes advantage of the first CoP ever to be held in South-East Asia in order to facilitate increased cooperation on wildlife trade issues of regional importance.

With regional free trade agreements on the horizon, a highway spanning four countries in the Mekong sub-region in the works, rapidly changing socio-economic dynamics, and connectivity of wildlife trade routes within the region and beyond, Southeast Asian nations have a clear need and strong impetus to address illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade as a coherent whole.

CITES CoP 13 provides an excellent opportunity for the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to commit to coordinating efforts to implement and enforce CITES in Southeast Asia. A strategic approach to tackling regional-level issues also could generate benefits at the national level. Moreover, key importing regions - Europe, North America, and East Asia - will have a chance to invest in management systems for wildlife trade in Southeast Asia's producer countries within a broader context.