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COP 11, CITES, Nairobi, Kenya, April 10 – 20, 2000 |
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Ivory of the Sea? Many conservationists argued that the downlisting of certain populations of African elephants to allow an “experimental” sale of ivory would set a dangerous precedent that CITES Parties would use to open up trade in other listed species. This blueprint has been followed in Cuba’s proposal to downlist Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) from Appendix I to Appendix II to sell its stockpiled turtle shell to Japan in a one-time sale and to allow further annual sales of up to 500 sea turtles a year. Allowing trade in sea turtle shells is as grievous an error as allowing trade in ivory. This is especially true when one acknowledges that sea turtles are shared wildlife with great ecotourism value for a number of nations. Although the proposal calls for downlisting the “Caribbean population of Hawksbill Turtles… inhabiting Cuban waters,” there is clearly no definitive Cuban population of a migratory marine species such as turtles. For example, the species’ distribution includes the waters of the Seychelles, a nation that burned two and a half tonnes of confiscated sea turtle shell in 1998 in a clear message of defiance toward those who would profit by killing these animals and selling their parts. The IUCN considers Hawksbills to be “critically endangered.” Anne Meylan of the Florida Marine Research Institute and Marydele Donnelly of the IUCN / SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group, wrote in an article in Chelonian Conservation and Biology that “Of all the species of marine turtles, the hawksbill has endured the longest and most sustained history of exploitation,” and that “individual populations from around the world will continue to disappear under the current regime of exploitation…” CITES Parties would send a very clear and exceedingly dangerous message to the world if they mistakenly open up trade in parts of “critically endangered” wildlife such as hawksbills
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