Review of species selected on the basis of the Analysis of the European Union and candidate countries’ annual reports to CITES 2009 (Version edited for public release) Prepared for the European Commission Directorate General Environment ENV.E.2. – Environmental Agreements and Trade by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre November, 2011 UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre 219 Huntingdon Road Cambridge CB3 0DL United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1223 277314 Fax: +44 (0) 1223 277136 Email: [email protected] Website: www.unep-wcmc.org ABOUT UNEP-WORLD CONSERVATION CITATION MONITORING CENTRE UNEP-WCMC (2011). Review of species selected on The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring the basis of the Analysis of the European Union and Centre (UNEP-WCMC), based in Cambridge, candidate countries’ annual reports to CITES 2009. UK, is the specialist biodiversity information Prepared for the European Commission. UNEP- and assessment centre of the United Nations WCMC, Cambridge. Environment Programme (UNEP), run cooperatively with WCMC, a UK charity. The PREPARED FOR Centre's mission is to evaluate and highlight the The European Commission, Brussels, Belgium many values of biodiversity and put authoritative biodiversity knowledge at the DISCLAIMER centre of decision-making. Through the analysis and synthesis of global biodiversity knowledge The contents of this report do not necessarily the Centre provides authoritative, strategic and reflect the views or policies of UNEP or timely information for conventions, countries contributory organisations. The designations and organisations to use in the development and employed and the presentations do not imply implementation of their policies and decisions. the expressions of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP, the European Commission or The UNEP-WCMC provides objective and contributory organisations concerning the legal scientifically rigorous procedures and services. status of any country, territory, city or area or its These include ecosystem assessments, support authority, or concerning the delimitation of its for the implementation of environmental frontiers or boundaries. agreements, global and regional biodiversity information, research on threats and impacts, and the development of future scenarios. © Copyright: 2011, European Commission Table of Contents 1. Introduction to the Analysis of the European Union Annual Reports to CITES ....................................... 4 2. Introduction to the species sheets ..................................................................................................................... 5 SPECIES: Tridacna maxima ...........................................................................................16 SPECIES: Cedrela odorata ...............................................................................................29 SPECIES: Cyathea australis ............................................................................................42 Annex: Key to purpose and source codes ......................................................................................................... 48 Introduction 1. Introduction to the Analysis of the European Union Annual Reports to CITES UNEP-WCMC undertakes an annual Analysis of the European Union and candidate countries’ annual reports to CITES. This Analysis examines patterns of trade into the European Union and candidate countries, trade in groups of particular note, possible transgressions of suspensions and negative opinions, exports of native species, etc. As part of the 2009 Analysis, imports reported by the EU (and candidate countries) as wild-sourced, ranched, source ‘unknown’ or source ‘blank’ were analysed to identify noteworthy patterns of trade according to five criteria. These criteria were designed to identify: 1. High volume trade in 2009 2. Globally threatened and near threatened species traded at relatively high volumes in 2009 3. Sharp increase in trade in 2009 4. General long term increases or decreases in trade between 2000 and 2009 5. Long term variability in trade between 2000 and 2009. Imports were considered to be ‘high volume’ according to thresholds which were determined by taxonomic group and CITES Appendix (Table 1). In order to account for threat status, the Appendix I threshold was also applied to Appendix II and III species considered to be threatened or near threatened by the IUCN (Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable and Near Threatened in the 2010 IUCN Red List). Table 1. Minimum number of wild, ranched, source ‘unknown’ and source ‘blank’ individuals imported in 2009 needed to qualify for selection on the basis of high trade volume. Taxonomic group CITES Appendix I II II III III CR, EN, VU, NT* CR, EN, VU, NT* Mammals 50 50 5000 50 25000 Birds 50 50 5000 50 25000 Reptiles 50 50 25000 50 50000 Amphibians 50 50 25000 50 — Fish 50 50 25000 50 — Invertebrates (non-corals) 250 250 25000 250 50000 Corals — 10000 25000 10000 50000 Plants (non-tree) 250 250 25000 250 50000 Plants (trees) 250 m³ 250 m³ 500 m³ 250 m³ 2500 m³ * CR = Critically Endangered, EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable, NT = Near Threatened in 2010 IUCN Red List The ‘sharp increase’ criterion was designed to determine if there was a sharp increase in importer- reported wild-sourced imports in 2009, compared with the average level of imports between 2004 and 2008. Species that, despite a sharp increase in trade in 2009, were still only traded in very low volumes (i.e. less than 5% of the levels listed in Table 1) were omitted from the chapter. The ‘overall increase’ criteria took into account more general trends over the period 2000-2009 by calculating the slope of a best-fit linear function to the trade data, with a large positive slope indicating a significant increase in trade levels over time. To account for highly variable trade that may not be picked up by the other criteria, the coefficient of variations were calculated for imports over a ten-year period (2000-2009) and species showing high variation over this period were selected. Introduction 2. Introduction to the species sheets On the basis of the Analysis of the European Union and candidate countries’ annual report to CITES 2009, four Annex B and one Annex C species were initially considered as candidates for review (SRG 57 document). Four species were selected by the SRG for in-depth review. Species were selected on the basis of particular patterns of trade to the European Union in 2009. Chelonoidis denticulata and Tridacna maxima were selected on the basis of the high volume of trade in 2009. Cyathea australis was selected on the basis of a sharp increase in trade in 2009. Cedrela odorata was selected on the basis of both the high volume of trade and sharp increase in trade in 2009. Chelonoidis denticulata REVIEW OF SPECIES SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF THE 2009 ANALYSIS OF EU ANNUAL REPORTS REPTILIA TESTUDINIDAE SPECIES: Chelonoidis denticulata SYNONYMS: Geochelone denticulata, Testudo cagado, Testudo denticulata, Testudo hercules, Testudo sculpta, Testudo tabulata, Testudo tessellata COMMON NAMES: Brazilian giant tortoise (English), Forest tortoise (English), South American tortoise (English), South American yellow-footed tortoise (English), Yellow-footed tortoise (English), Tortue de l'Amérique du sud (French), Tortue dentelée (French), Tortue denticulée (French), Motelo (Spanish), Tortuga de patas amarillas (Spanish), Brasiliansk skogssköldpadda (Swedish), Gulfotad landsköldpadda (Swedish) RANGE STATES: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominica (int), Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe (int), Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela RANGE STATE UNDER REVIEW: Guyana, Suriname IUCN RED LIST: Vulnerable PREVIOUS EC OPINIONS: Previous Article 4.6(c) import suspension for live wild specimens from all countries first applied on 21/11/1998 and removed on 10/05/2006. Current Article 4.6(b) import suspension for wild specimens from Bolivia and Ecuador first applied on 22/12/1997 and last confirmed on 07/09/2011. Previous positive opinion for Guyana formed on 15/12/1997 and removed on 21/11/1998. Previous positive opinion for Suriname formed on 22/07/1997 and removed on 21/11/1998. Chelonoidis denticulata TRADE PATTERNS: Chelonoidis denticulata was selected for review on the basis of a high volume of trade into the European Union in 2009 (based on the threshold of 50 reptiles for globally threatened or near threatened species). Guyana: Guyana published CITES annual export quotas for 704 live, wild-sourced C. denticulata in each year 2000-2011. According to the CITES Trade Database, trade reported by both Guyana and the importers remained within quota in every year (Table 1); annual reports have not yet been received from Guyana for 2009 or 2010. Imports of C. denticulata to the EU-27 directly from Guyana over the period 2000-2010 consisted exclusively of live, wild-sourced specimens traded for commercial purposes (Table 2). The principal importers were the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Of the direct exports reported by Guyana between 2000 and 2010, 5 per cent were to the EU-27. Indirect trade of C. denticulata originating in Guyana to the EU-27 also comprised live, wild-sourced specimens traded for commercial purposes, the majority of which were re-exported by the United States; the principal importers were the Czech Republic and the Netherlands (Table 3). Direct exports of C. denticulata from Guyana to countries other than the EU-27 consisted of live specimens