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CITES awards Certificate of Commendation to Nepal authorities for their combat against wildlife poachers and traffickers(March 2006)
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CITES awards Certificate of Commendation to Nepal authorities for their combat against wildlife poachers and traffickers
March 2006

The Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has today awarded a Certificate of Commendation to the Chitwan National Park Authority and to the Royal Nepalese Army to recognize their exemplary efforts to combat poaching and illegal trade in endangered species, in particular the leopard, the rhinoceros and the tiger.

During 2004 and 2005, officers from both the Authority and the Army arrested over 30 people for wildlife crimes: many of them were subsequently sentenced to prison. They also seized rhinoceros horns, tiger skins, and tiger and leopard bones, and confiscated illegal earnings as well as vehicles, weapons and ammunition.

The Certificate was presented during a ceremony at the offices of the CITES Secretariat. It was accepted on behalf of the Authority and the Army by His Excellency The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations and other international organisations at Geneva. Accepting the certificate of commendation, Mr Gyan Chandra Acharya, the Nepalese Ambassador, expressed the sincere gratitude of the Government of Nepal to the CITES Parties and the Secretariat for the recognition of the dedicated work of the Chitwan National Park Authority and the Nepalese Army to combat poaching and illegal trade in endangered species even in difficult circumstances, as per its commitment to international conventions.

He further said that such commendation would encourage the authorities involved to work with further dedication to the cause of the protection of the endangered species and preservation of their biodiversity in the days ahead. He also assured that he would be pleased to forward the commendation to the respective authorities in Nepal.

Speaking after the presentation, Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers said, "The poaching of animals such as tigers and rhinoceroses has brought some populations of these species to the brink of extinction. Many criminals involved in poaching do not hesitate to act violently towards law enforcement personnel, which makes the dangerous work performed by Park staff and by the Army in Nepal all the more impressive."

Mr Wijnstekers also commended the Nepalese authorities for their strong commitment to protecting their country's biodiversity during a period when law enforcement agencies face many other demands upon their time and resources.

The CITES Secretary-General began awarding Certificates of Commendation in 2002 to recognize exemplary enforcement actions by individuals or organisations that have contributed to the enforcement of the Convention.

What is CITES?

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.

Widespread information nowadays about the endangered status of many prominent species, such as the tiger and elephants, might make the need for such a convention seem obvious. But at the time when the ideas for CITES were first formed, in the 1960s, international discussion of the regulation of wildlife trade for conservation purposes was something relatively new. With hindsight, the need for CITES is clear. Annually, international wildlife trade is estimated to be worth billions of dollars and to include hundreds of millions of plant and animal specimens. The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios and medicines. Levels of exploitation of some animal and plant species are high and the trade in them, together with other factors, such as habitat loss, is capable of heavily depleting their populations and even bringing some species close to extinction. Many wildlife species in trade are not endangered, but the existence of an agreement to ensure the sustainability of the trade is important in order to safeguard these resources for the future.

Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation. CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation. Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs.

CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union). The text of the Convention was finally agreed at a meeting of representatives of 80 countries in Washington DC., United States of America, on 3 March 1973, , and on 1 July 1975 CITES entered in force. The original of the Convention was deposited with the Depositary Government in the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic.

CITES is an international agreement to which States (countries) adhere voluntarily. States that have agreed to be bound by the Convention ('joined' CITES) are known as Parties. Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties ? in other words they have to implement the Convention - it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

For many years CITES has been among the conservation agreements with the largest membership, with now 169 Parties.

Source: CITES 2006

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