Transcript
The workshop has focused on training customs authorities from around the region on the "Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora" or CITES. The convention monitors and regulates the trade of around 36,000 species through a system of permits and certificates. Of the 183 countries which are party to the convention, only eight of them are from the Pacfic. CITES Secretary General John Scanlon says coral and clams are among some of the most commonly seized items under CITES coming from the region.Mr Scanlon says the need to raise awareness among locals and tourists to the Pacific is huge.
"If you think about it you know, just one cruise liner coming in to Fiji can carry 3,000 passengers and just imagine that every one of those passengers wanted to grab a piece of coral or a clam or some of them wanted to take a tabua, you know. You could really start suffering a death from a thousand cuts if you don't keep this under control."
The workshop follows a repatriation ceremony which took place earlier last week involving the return of nearly 150 whales' teeth, which had been seized by New Zealand customs authorities over the last 15 years, back to Fiji. Whales teeth, known in Fiji as tabua, are highly regarded cultural items and come under Appendix 1 of species covered by CITES. Wendy Jackson, the head of New Zealand CITES Authority, says the repatriation of the tabua highlights the need for a CITES workshop to be held in the Pacific to help improve implementation of the convention.
"Communities have a role to play in CITES because these will end up going back into communities. And it's a really important component for CITES implementation. The numbers that we're seeing that have been seized ... and then also I checked through the global trade database for global statistics on trading tabua and it's not just a lot in and out of Australia and New Zealand, but also out of Australia. I think this is a really good opportunity and I think the more people know, the better."
Mr Scanlon says while the CITES workshop will help Pacific countries combat illegal trade in wildlife, he is seeing an increasing number of species from the region coming under trade controls of the convention. He says existing Pacific member countries have played a valuable role in pushing for more marine species to be regulated under CITES.
"Fiji, for example, at our last big event at what we call 'Conference of the Parties' promoted bringing the 'mubula' or the 'devil ray' under CITES trade control and it was successful in doing that. We also had the thresher shark, the silky shark, the nautilus all added to CITES. And these are species that are found within the Pacific."
John Scanlon says working with the region is very important due to the need for protection of its various marine species but also because there is an increasing need for protection of some of its land species.
"We've also seen illegal trade in reptiles - an iguana coming from Fiji, we've seen in illegal trade which has been a great concern, and basically being illegally traded to Europe to get onto the illegal market for pet trade."
Mr Scanlon says he hopes the workshop will encourage more Pacific countries to join CITES.
