Rosewood tree, African elephant, polar bear and Mariana mallard
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of CITES, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora will take place in Doha, Qatar, from the 13th to 25th of March 2010. As with every precedent session since 1989, Robin des Bois will attend.
Brazilian rosewood, rosewood tree (Aniba rosaeodora Ducke):
Chanel uses Brazilian rosewood an essential oil in their perfume n°5, in 1997 a controversy arose around this subject between the perfumery and Robin des Bois. This controversy was closed by a mutual accord on the necessity to protect Brazilian rosewood, notably via controlling international trade, by including the species on Appendix II of CITES and with plantation trials in French Guiana. Currently, essential oils of rosewood are on the market, for the most part they are made out of chemical substances but they could contain traces of the natural essence. The market of “organic farming” certificated oils used in aromatherapy claims Brazilian rosewood to have anti-depressing and aphrodisiac properties. The principal range state Brazil is proposing the inclusion of Brazilian rosewood in Appendix II. All of the French perfumeries are in favour of this proposal. More than 10 years after the start of Robin des Bois’ campaign, the time it takes for diplomacy, this proposal is an important issue for the Robin des Bois association. The battle is far from over as the Parties who profit from the wood industry are generally reluctant about including a tree in appendixes I or II. Concerning this species, clairvoyance by the Brazilians should be acknowledged.
Rosewood tree, African elephant, polar bear and Mariana mallard
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of CITES, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora will take place in Doha, Qatar, from the 13th to 25th of March 2010. As with every precedent session since 1989, Robin des Bois will attend.
Currently at CITES there are 175 Parties. Decisions are based on a majority vote of 2/3. Appendix I bans international trade, Appendix II regulates trade and Appendix III is linked to an individual Party decision who asks other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade. Robin des Bois’s summary of the previous CITES session is available on line at the following link (pdf in French).
Beijing 2008 : rings made of ivory
On 16th July, 2008 in Geneva, three weeks before the opening of the Olympic Games, China was given authorization to act as a commercial licensed partner within the legal elephant ivory traffic. Thus, the biggest black market for ivory in the world will consolidate its position. Thousands of ivory retailers throughout China can hold their heads up high as they cooly welcomed the tourists of olympic games. Within a couple of months according to the CITES program (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the price of 108 t of ivory stocks auctionned by South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe is expected to increase after China’s accreditation, Japan being till now the only legal candidate. As a matter of fact, little legal ivory is sufficient to launder a lot of illicit ivory and there is no doubt the price of ivory will skyrocket after China’s entry into ivory stock exchange.
