Press release n°3

CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
17th Conference of the Parties. Johannesburg – South Africa
September 24 to October 5, 2016

Good news for tropical forests. Three important changes.

1- Dalbergia
It was feared that China would oppose. Trade in Dalbergia, commonly known as rosewood or red wood (“hongmu” in Chinese) had been booming in the world’s biggest importer. 10,000 producers of furniture and decorative objects are in activity in China, transforming “hongmu”. The industry employs one million people and generates 7 billion US$ in revenue per year. The Dalbegia odorifera, the most prestigious species, is sold at present for 1.5 million US$ per m3. Ordinary species are sold between 10,000 and 40,000 US$ per m3. After China, the United States and Europe are the main importers.

Press release n°2

CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
17th Conference of the Parties. Johannesburg – South Africa
September 24 to October 5, 2016

– With a flurry of mailings and pathetic declarations, the WWF floods the world with calls for help to save elephants. The surface speech is in red and black tones as it should, emotionally correct, touching its members and supporters.

– Behind the scenes of ministries and conventions, the WWF has been campaigning for 26 years so that the legal ivory trade remains ajar. The WWF has its foot in the door and does not pull out. To the bloodshed and cruelty of poaching, the WWF wants to add the poison of legal trade and opposes to the return of all elephant populations in Appendix I of CITES, which would ban international ivory trade. Unfortunately, this murky speech is taken over by the majority of countries of the European Union, Belgium and Germany in the lead.

Surging European Union Pre-CITES Convention* Ivory Exports to Hong Kong A Cause for Concern

South Africa, 27 September 2016 – As delegates from all around the world deliberate on the future of wildlife, including elephants, at the CITES CoP17 wildlife trade conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, recently obtained data from the Hong Kong government show significant imports of ivory from the European Union to Hong Kong SAR of the People’s Republic of China with a total tonnage of over 7 tonnes. Moreover, the number of worked ivory pieces entering Hong Kong shot up by a dramatic 685%. In 2014, the total number of worked ivory pieces entering Hong Kong from the European Union was 1,572 pieces, but this leapt dramatically to 10,761 worked ivory pieces in 2015.

Press release n ° 1 – Opening

CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
17th Conference of the Parties. Johannesburg – South Africa
September 24 to October 5, 2016

Ivories from elephant and mammoth will be on the table with hornbill red ivory, pangolin scales, tiger and lion bones, psychedelic gecko, banggai cardinal fish and peregrine falcons…

Rosewoods traffickings will be viewed with a magnifying glass. Chainsaws will haunt the hallways.

Special Edition – 17th meeting of the CITES

For 3 years, the NGO Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) has been publishing in French and in English the quarterly bulletin “On the Trail“ on the poaching  and smuggling of animal  species  threatened  with  extinction. Information come from a thousand sources, institutions, local medias and NGOs on the spot throughout the world. Each event is analyzed, related with a maximum of practical details and further developments are traced through time.