Cop17 Doc. 14.6
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Original language: English CoP17 Doc. 14.6 CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA ____________________ Seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties Johannesburg (South Africa), 24 September -5 October 2016 Strategic matters Cooperation with organizations and multilateral environmental agreements COOPERATION WITH THE GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR PLANT CONSERVATION OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 1. This document has been submitted by Mexico.* Background 2. At its 16th meeting (CoP16; Bangkok, 2013) the Conference of the Parties adopted Resolution Conf. 16.5 on “Cooperation with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the Convention on Biological Diversity”, which provides specific guidelines on GSPC-CITES collaboration by: - Inviting Parties to: a) take note of the potential contribution of CITES to the objectives and targets of the consolidated update of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 2011-2020 through the activities and products listed in the Annex to the Resolution; b) promote and enhance collaboration between their GSPC focal point and their CITES Authorities, through: i. the involvement of CITES authorities in the development and implementation of the GSPC national strategies, particularly activities related to CITES-listed species; and ii. the inclusion of CITES-GSPC-related activities in CBD National Reports; - Directing the Secretariat to encourage the exchange of information related to the GSPC and other plant conservation and sustainable use initiatives, by: a) promoting awareness of ongoing CITES activities that contribute to the achievement of GSPC Targets, by communicating information among CITES bodies and Parties on the operations and outcomes of CITES processes, such as the Review of Significant Trade, Periodic Review of the Appendices, proposals to amend the CITES Appendices, and formulation of Non-detriment Findings (NDFs), among others; b) collaborating with the CBD Secretariat to streamline reporting on relevant CITES activities related to the GSPC Targets; c) including the GSPC in any work plans developed under the Memorandum of Cooperation with the Secretariat of CBD; and d) inviting a CBD representative to participate as an observer at Plants Committee meetings that address GSPC; - Directing the Plants Committee and the Secretariat to promote CITES collaboration with CBD on the implementation of the GSPC by: a) representing the CITES Plants Committee at meetings of CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and other GSPC meetings subject to the availability of external funding; and * The geographical designations employed in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the CITES Secretariat (or the United Nations Environment Programme) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The responsibility for the contents of the document rests exclusively with its author. CoP17 Doc. 14.6 – p. 1 b) providing contributions for CBD documents regarding the implementation of the GSPC. 3. At its 21st meeting (PC21; Veracruz, México 2014), the Plants Committee considered document PC21 Doc. 8.2, presented by the (then) interim Vice Chair of the Plants Committee (Hesiquio Benítez, México) and prepared in collaboration with the Mexican Scientific Authority (Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, CONABIO). As a result, and on the basis of the recommendations of the document, the Plants Committee: 3.1. Took note of Res. Conf. 16.5, and in particular the “List of potential CITES activities and products and their contribution to the objectives and targets of the updated Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 2011-2020” included in its Annex; 3.2. Encouraged Parties to report any progress related to the implementation of Res. Conf. 16.5 to the regional representatives of the Plants Committtee; 3.3. Established an intersessional working group on GSPC, as follows: a) Mandate: i. Monitor compliance with the recommendations formulated by PC21 regarding the implementation of Res. Conf. 16.5; and, ii. Prepare a progress report for review at PC22. b) Membership: i. Chair: Representative of North America (Mr. Benítez) ii. Members: Representatives of Africa (Ms. Khayota), Asia (Mr. Fernando), Central and South America and the Caribbean (Ms. Rivera) and Oceania (Mr. Leach), and Alternate representative of Europe (Mr. Carmo). iii. Parties: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and United States of America. iv. IGOs and NGOs: UNEP-WCMC, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Botanical Gardens Conservation International, and TRAFFIC International. 4. At the 22nd meeting of the Plants Committee (PC22; Tbilisi, Georgia 2015), the working group presented the progress achieved, through document PC22 Doc. 7.2 (Rev. 2), submitted by the Representative of North America (Mr. Benítez) in collaboration with the Mexican Scientific Authority (CONABIO), highlighting the following sections of the document: a) Annex 3, consisting of a “Draft report on CITES contribution to the implementation of GSPC 2011- 2020 (Res. Conf. 16.5)”, which represents a preliminary qualitative assessment of CITES performance in the implementation of all 5 GSPC Objectives. The methodology followed by the working group to achieve the draft report is detailed at length in document PC22 Doc. 7.2 (Rev. 2), and it is mainly based on the input provided by 34 Parties in response to a consultation process described in Annex 1 of that document. b) Annex 4 consisting of a detailed “Overview of the Secretariat’s capacity building materials with emphasis on the activities related to GSPC and Resolution Conf. 16”. Particularly, said Annex 4 included a Table which summarizes Periodic Review proposals and Review of Significant Trade in Specimens of Appendix-II species since CoP13 to the 21st meeting of the Plants Committee (PC21, 2014). c) Annex 5, an Excel file consisting of the entire online flora reported by the 34 CITES Parties responded to the working group’s consultations in preparation for PC22; currently available at https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/pc/22/E-PC22-07-02-Annex5-Rev2.xlsx 5. Based on the recommendations of document PC22 Doc. 7.2 (Rev. 2), the Plants Committee: a) Took note of the “Draft report on CITES contribution to the implementation of GSPC 2011-2020 (Res. Conf. 16.5)” (contained in ANNEX 1 to the present document); b) Requested the Secretariat to publish on its website the summary on Periodic Review proposals and Review of Significant Trade updated until PC21 (contained in ANNEX 2 of the present document); and, c) Encouraged Parties to provide information on the implementation of Res. Conf. 16.5, in order to prepare an updated version of the draft report for consideration of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties. 6. In order to update the information contained in the Draft Report (ANNEX 1), the Plants Committee (through the interim Vice Chair, Ms. Adrianne Sinclair) requested the Secretariat to publish a Notification to the Parties, encouraging to fill in a questionnaire based on that originally included in Annex 2 to document PC22 Doc. 7.2 (Rev. 2). At the time of preparing the present document, the Notification was yet to be published, and the feedback and responses received to it will be included in an revised version of ANNEX 1 of the present document (Draft report on the contribution to the implementation of GSPC 2011-2020). CoP17 Doc. 14.6 – p. 2 Recommendations to the Conference of the Parties 7. Endorse the updated version of ANNEX 1 of the present document (which will include all responses received to the Notification mentioned in par. 6), and request the Secretariat to send it to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in order for it to be considered at CBD’s 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP13-CBD, Cancun, México; December 2016) as CITES contribution to the implementation of GSPC 2011-2020. 8. Request the Secretariat to: a) Publish and maintained updated on its website the summary contained in ANNEX 2 of the present document (Periodic Review proposals submitted to CoPs for amendments to Appendices I and II, taxa selected for Periodic Review of species included in App. I and II, and Review of Significant Trade in specimens of App. II species), including relevant updates derived from PC22 and CoP17; b) Request the UNEP-WCMC (United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre) to include in its website an interactive version of the online flora, currently available at https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/pc/22/E-PC22-07-02-Annex5-Rev2.xlsx , in such a way that CITES Parties can maintain it up to date, and thus have a clear idea on CITES contribution to the implementation of Target 1 of the GSPC. COMMENTS FROM THE SECRETARIAT A. The Secretariat supports the cooperation with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as directed in Resolution Conf. 16.5. The document explains that this cooperation has mainly consisted of providing the CBD with updates on various CITES review processes concerning selected plant species (Periodic Review of the Appendices; Review of Significant Trade), and information on plant-related activities conducted by the Parties and the Secretariat that are or may be relevant to GSPC’s objectives. The document seeks agreement from the Conference of the Parties to continue this delivery of information to the GSPC. B. The Secretariat notes that to date, there seem to have been only limited opportunities for GSPC to inform CITES of relevant activities, or bring information on plant conservation and sustainable use initiatives involving CITES-listed species to the attention of the Parties. C. The Secretariat suggests that the Conference of the Parties agrees to the recommendation in paragraph 7 of the document, as it may contribute to discussions on the GSPC at CBD’s 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP13-CBD, Cancun, December 2016).