Future of pernambuco under discussion at CITES convention

The 19th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is currently taking place in Panama City. Friday 18 November saw discussion of the Brazilian government’s proposal to list pernambuco on Appendix I, the list species of the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants. Pernambuco is already listed in Appendix II. As well as Brazil, the convention heard comments from Panama, the European Union, the US, Guatemala, Israel, the UK, Canada and Australia, as well as organisations including the International Association of Violin and Bow Makers and the League of American Orchestras among others.

As an alternative to the Brazilian proposal, both the EU and US presented alternate wordings for an annotation to the pernambuco listing in Appendix II. The committee head created a working group, to be headed by Australia, to ‘consider whether consensus is possible on a possible amendment to proposal 49’. It is hoped that the working group will report back for a vote on or before the end of the conference on Friday 25 November.

The video links to the start of the statement by the International Association of Violin and Bow Makers. To hear the statement by the US, click here. To hear the statement by the UK, click here.