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SA Hosts Next CITES Meeting in Cape Town 01 Apr 2013
South Africa will host the next CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP) in Cape Town in 2016 as a unaninous decision by all delegates at the meeting of CITES in Bangkok.

As the third most mega-biodiverse country in the world, South Africa is always ready accept a leadership role in the conservation of biodiversity at all levels by working with different partners at national, regional and global levels. This is one of the reasons why, at this crucial time when the convention is faced with complex trade, livelihoods and conservation issues, South Africa is ready to host the meeting in 2016.

The message the South African delegation had brought to CITES, as one of the organisation’s founding members, was supported by the government’s policy of sustainable utilisation of natural resources as a biodiversity conservation tool, environmental affairs minister Edna Molewa said.

It is because of adaptive management and sustainable utilisation practices that South Africa has developed and maintained a proud conservation record, and communities have contributed to the conservation of species while benefiting financially from the restoration and protection of species.

At CoP 16 delegates robustly debated and decided how to improve the world’s wildlife trade regime, taking stock of progress made in ensuring survival of endangered species such as the leopard, rhino, cheetah, elephant, timber species and hoodia. Representatives also decided on which species were to be down-listed or up-listed on the CITES Appendices, determining which species may or may not be traded under strict international controls, Molewa said

While South Africa garnered a fair share of attention through the hosting of a series of side events directed at starting an international debate about whether rhino horn should be traded legally, under strictly-controlled CITES conditions, or not, a number of decisions were taken by Parties on species directly affecting South Africa.

The document relating to the management of “harvest for export quotas” for leopard was adopted by consensus. The document was developed by South Africa through collaboration with various SADC member states and the United States and addresses the challenges experienced in terms of the export and re-export of leopard trophies. This related directly to the proper labelling of leopard trophies, hunted in South Africa, and exported to the United States.

Kenya had initially put forward a proposal to place a zero export quota on hunting trophies from South Africa and Swaziland until CoP18. Subsequent to deliberations in the margins of the meeting, Kenya withdrew the proposal.

South Africa as a range state is hoping to see more commitment from both consumer and transit states by developing programmes to create awareness, law enforcement, technology development, and information exchange on stopping rhino poaching. The decision will continue to serve as a guide to South Africa, in improving relations through intended MOUs with several affected countries like Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and China.

The South African delegation played an instrumental role in ensuring that CITES’ Rules of Procedure could in future only be amended through a two-thirds majority vote. In the spirit of constructiveness and cooperation, South Africa had chaired the Working Group on the Rules of Procedure in the hope of reaching consensus on the proposals to amend the rules that guide decision-making and the procedures followed to amend the rules.