CITES Secretary-General Ms. Ivonne Higuero and the Head of the European Union Delegation Mr. Jorge Rodriguez-Romero opening the CTSP side event. Photo credit: Atila Seke

On 19 August 2019 during the CITES Eighteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties more than 100 participants gathered together for the CITES Tree Species Programme (CTSP) Side event.

The CITES Tree Species Programme supports Parties that export valuable parts and derivatives of CITES-listed tree species by providing them direct financial assistance for taking conservation and management measures to ensure that their trade in timber, bark, extracts and other products from CITES-listed tree species is sustainable, legal and traceable. This will be achieved through improved practical and technological capacity for the development of non-detriment findings, enhanced silvicultural and ecological knowledge for the management of CITES-listed tree species, increased capacity in the identification of timber and non-timber forest products and effective information and tracking systems.

From left to right – Thang Chiew, Jean Lagarde Betti, Milena Sosa Schmid, Ishii Kanako, Yulita Kusumadewi. Photo credit: Atila Seke

Opening remarks were given from CITES Secretary-General Ms. Ivonne Higuero and the Head of the European Union Delegation at CITES CoP18, Mr. Jorge Rodriguez-Romero.

CITES Secretary-General invited the participants of the side event, to learn the progress made with the work under the CITES Tree Species Programme.

Mr. Jorge Rodriguez-Romero talked about how the CITES Trees Species programme has proved over years to be a very successful tool to build capacities in producing countries and help those to meet the CITES requirements for tree species. Fuerthermore, he added, the CITES Tree Species programme has achieved significant results through a wide range of activities, that concern the management of CITES tree species for which the European Union is a market e.g. the African cherry (Prunus africana); timber species such as Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata).

Following the opening words, the Programme Coordinator presented an overview of the Programme work, and the three Regional Coordinators presented the on work in Africa, Asia and Central and South America and the Caribbean. Following the briefings of the coordinators, Ms Yulita, Senior Researcher at Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), lead of the project from Indonesia entitled “Non-detriment Findings Report and a DNA Database for Dalbergia latifólia in Java and West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia ” and Ms. Ishii Kanako, representative of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), explained the importance of the work under the Programme and the value of interagency cooperation and synergies. The Coordinator of the Programme concluded the event with a thorough presentation of the new website dedicated to the Programme and explained that the website will be officially launched soon.

Ishii Kanako from ITTO presenting the cooperation between ITTO and CITES. Photo credit: Atila Seke

Participants commended the value of the Programme in supporting the efforts of Parties in ensuring the sustainable management of CITES listed tree species and their products, while contributing to their sustainable, traceable, and legal trade.

Mr Augustin Ngumbi Amuri, Sharing DRC experiences working on the project with CTSP. Photo credit: Atila Seke

The CITES Secretariat would like to thank the European Union for funding for the CITES Tree Species Programme.