Qatar getting ready for next CITES conference

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Gulf Times

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August 14th

 

Qatar set to host CITES conference in March

 

By Peter Townson/Staff Reporter

 

Ahead of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species) conference, which is set to take place in Qatar in March of

2010, representatives of the Species Survival Network (SSN) have been

visiting the country.

 

They aim to lay the groundwork for their participation and have a look

at the situation here in regards to animal and plant trade.

 

The conference, which takes place every three years, will feature up to

2,000 delegates from each of the 175 countries which are party to CITES

as well as trading industries and NGOs.

 

Teresa Telecky and Wim de Kok explained that their job as part of the

Species Survival Network is to facilitate their 80 or so member groups,

who will be attending the conference.

 

These groups will be lobbying various government delegates to either

support or oppose the list of governmental suggestions for the treatment

of various species.

 

Speaking to Gulf Times during their visit, the experts explained that

there were a number of areas in which the government of Qatar could

improve their participation in the CITES treaty.

 

The main requirement which Qatar could fulfil is the provision of a

rescue centre to house any confiscated exotic animals.

 

“Each country signed up to CITES is required to have a rescue centre

to help with the enforcement of the treaty,” explained Telecky,

pointing out the existence of such a facility would mean that CITES

officers could work more efficiently with somewhere to place any

recovered animals.

 

De Kok said that this represented an opportunity for Qatar to become a

regional hub for the enforcement of the treaty, as no Gulf country

currently possesses a rescue centre.

 

“Qatar has the chance to take the lead in this matter and it seems

that they have the resources available to build such a facility in the

near future,” he said, adding that there would also be a need for

trained members of staff to come and work at the centre.

 

De Kok also highlighted the staff and employees at the airport and

customs departments as another area of potential improvement.

 

“There needs to be capacity building at the borders and Qatar needs

to train their staff to be able to recognise certain species and possess

the necessary knowledge to recognise and deal with any listed

species,” he said.

 

She said that the pair had been “pleasantly surprised” with how

helpful the Ministry of Environment had been regarding the organisation

of the upcoming conference, and explained that the Species Survival

Network would know around mid-October exactly which species will be

discussed in Qatar.

 

“We don’t know which species of animals and plants will be on the

agenda yet, but this year there will be a number of sharks, as well as

African elephant and tigers which are regular candidates,” she said.

 

Ahead of the conference, she recommended Qatar works on future plans

for a rescue centre and also the enforcement of CITES laws which govern

the trade of animals. “There needs to be more enforcement from CITES

here – they need to be confiscating animals on a regular basis as no

one will get the message unless they are impacted financially and have

an incentive to do the right thing.”