Doha Diary
Inside track
Throughout the conference, IUCN's delegation will be giving the inside view on what's happening and an insight into the key issues at stake. Check here for daily blogs from the experts.
Day Eleven
Well, it has been a long and exhausting two weeks and today the final few decisions were rubber stamped by the whole conference in Plenary. As anticipated, some of the listing proposals were re-opened. Both Tanzania and Zambia’s proposals to downlist their populations of the African Elephant, which would only apply to trade in raw hides, hunting trophies and live animals but with no one-off sale of ivory were rejected in Committee I. Both proposals were again rejected in Plenary, writes Thomasina Oldfield, Programme Leader, Research and Analysis Programme, TRAFFIC. …
26 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Ten
Today is the start of the two-day plenary marathon in which all of the decisions taken in the Committees during the past 10 days will be formally approved and adopted by all participants. There are almost 70 agenda items and 42 proposals to address in only 12 hours of plenary – working out to a little more than six minutes per item. Considering that we suspect several proposals to be reopened, this means some items will only get a cursory nod before the chair will signal adoption, writes Sue Mainka, Head of IUCN’s Science and Learning. …
25 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Nine
It’s the last substantive day of the CITES conference when we are dealing with new agenda items – tomorrow and the following final day will be the plenary when agenda items will be revisited one last time and final decisions made. But it’s unlikely, though possible, that many changes will be made to the decisions that were taken in committee meetings earlier in the week, writes Dena Cator, IUCN Species Survival Commission Network Support Officer. …
24 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Eight
It’s my first CITES conference, first time in Qatar! I’ve learned a lot already about CITES, its processes, the Appendices and species up for discussion, writes Rania Faouri, IUCN West Asia Communications Officer. …
23 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Seven
This is my third CITES meeting and my first blog; both nerve-jangling experiences. Having only just arrived in Doha I had a lot of catching up to do on happenings from last week, and on what was about to happen today. The ever-changing Committee schedules and massive lists of items to be covered, I recall from earlier CoPs (Conference of the Parties), means you can never be sure exactly what will be happening from one hour to the next, writes Yvonne Sadovy, Co-Chair IUCN/SSC Groupers and Wrasses Specialist Group. …
22 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Six
Today, delegates are enjoying a well deserved break, some choosing to join a desert safari into the interior of Qatar, others doing a spot of bird-watching and some taking in the sights of Doha, such as the Old Souk and Islamic Centre. Fiji’s delegation escaped the heat of the city by taking a boat out into the Persian Gulf for some water sports and fishing – somewhat homesick for the Pacific islands perhaps! The two-day break is welcomed after the heated discussions in Committee I yesterday, writes Helen Pippard, Species Officer at IUCN Oceania and a member of the Fiji Delegation at CITES CoP15. …
20 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Five
From 30,000 feet, CITES looks like a steady convention, mature almost to the point of being middle-aged and dull. There is the predictable steady flow of implementation activities, and about twice a year a major gathering of practitioners occurs, a Standing Committee Meeting concerning implementation issues, and either a Plants and Animals Committee meeting of technical experts or a Conference of Parties, where signatory governments review progress and set course for the future, writes Peter Paul van Dijk, IUCN/SSC Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises Specialist Group. …
19 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Four
Well, it’s St. Patrick’s Day in Qatar and, frankly, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of celebration. However, Committee 1 had a decidedly ‘green’ ambiance as the Chair began discussions on the plants proposed for listing changes on the CITES Appendices, writes Sue Mainka, Head of IUCN's Science and Learning. …
18 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Three
Today at the conference, Germany, a long-time champion of the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) and porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus), hosted a briefing on proposals to list the two commercially valuable species under CITES Appendix II. Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but for which trade must be controlled in order to avoid threats to their survival. After being developed by Germany, the listing proposals were officially submitted to CITES by Sweden, on behalf of European Union (EU) Member States, and co-sponsored by Palau, writes Sonja Fordham, of IUCN's Shark Specialist Group. …
16 Mar 2010 | News story
Day Two
As a CITES 'newbie', there is so much to learn, even in the first few days of the conference, before the debates get heated and the decisions and voting start to roll along, fast and furious, writes Diane Skinner, of IUCN's African Elephant Specialist Group. …
15 Mar 2010 | News story
