news reports, seizures, policy, development, conservation

Oxford, UK, 22 February 2007—Oceanic shark numbers are declining through overfishing, and several species have been added to the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. read full story >

Nuremberg, Germany, 16 February 2007—A new standard to promote the sustainable management and trade in wild medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) was launched today at Biofach, the World Organic Trade Fair. read full story >

California, USA, 15 February 2007—The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, founded by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, whose followers are known colloquially as “Moonies”, and six men convicted of poaching Leopard Sharks are to pay a total of US$910,000 to help restore marine wildlife habitat in the San Francisco Bay. Generous donations from the California Coastal Conservancy and three Foundations are to contribute a further US$600,000 for conservation work in the area. read full story >

Bali, Indonesia, 12 February 2007—An historic declaration to conserve the “Heart of Borneo” was officially signed today between the three Bornean governments—Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia. The tri-country declaration means one of the most important centres of biological diversity in the world, covering approximately 220,000 square kilometres of equatorial rainforests—almost a third of the island—will be conserved and sustainably managed, and plans to create the world’s largest palm oil plantation in Kalimantan along Indonesia’s mountainous border with Malaysia have formally been scrapped. read full story >

Cambridge, UK, 10 February 2007—The Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) was launched today by a partnership of governments and concerned organisations to tackle the growing problem of illegal trade in wild animals and plants. read full story >

Beijing, China, 9 February 2007—Looking for that sumptuous dining experience as Chinese New Year approaches? TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, says that by avoiding or carefully sourcing certain foods, such as shark's fin, sea cucumber and abalone, you can avoid having a detrimental impact on the planet's natural resources and a guilt free Year of the Pig. read full story >

Vladivostock, Russia, 8 February 2007—The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has lifted a one-year ban on exports of caviar from stocks of beluga sturgeon and two species of sturgeon from the Amur River basin. The announcement has dismayed TRAFFIC and WWF who are concerned the decision was not based on catch quotas established by the Russian Federation for 2007. TRAFFIC and WWF are encouraging countries not to import caviar from these sturgeon stocks until the precise scientific and legal basis upon which these quotas were made are clarified. read full story >

Cape Town, South Africa, 5 February 2007—South Africa has taken a decisive step towards stemming the illegal harvest and trade of its endemic abalone species, Haliotis midae, by listing it in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The listing, which comes into effect on 3 May 2007, requires all future consignments of H. midae, more commonly known as perlemoen, in international trade to be accompanied by CITES documentation. read full story >

Hong Kong, 2 February 2007—Reef fish such as Humphead Wrasse (also known as Napolean Wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus) are fast disappearing largely due to weakly regulated and illegal international trade, according to TRAFFIC. As the major consumption market and trade hub, TRAFFIC is calling upon Hong Kong authorities to take the initiative to work closely with source countries in the region to ensure the sustainable trade in Humphead Wrasse. read full story >

Cambridge, UK, 17 January 2007—The 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP14) this year will consider 38 proposals to amend the lists of species subject to trade controls.  The CITES Secretariat today unveiled the list of proposals to amend the CITES Appendices which will be discussed at the meeting taking place in the Hague, the Netherlands, from 3-15 June 2007. read full story >