Europe Urged to Restrain on Wildlife Trade

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Europe Urged to Restrain on Wildlife Trade
May 2007 -   Caviar, tropical timber, rare live 
reptiles and reptile skins - the European Union is one of the biggest 
global markets for wildlife trade, which has a devastating impact on the 
survival of many endangered species and their environment. 
The first analysis of the volume and scope of wildlife imports to Europe 
was released in a report today by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring 
network, ahead of an international conference on trade in endangered 
species that opens next week in The Netherlands. 

Fiji banded iguana, Brachylophus fasciatus, seized at customs. This 
species is endangered due to habitat loss and the introduction of 
predators. 
TRAFFIC works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a 
threat to the conservation of nature. TRAFFIC is a joint program of the 
global conservation organization WWF and IUCN-The World Conservation 
Union. 
"As EU membership has expanded, so has the size of the market and demand 
for wildlife products,” said Rob Parry-Jones, Head of TRAFFIC Europe, who 
co-authored the report with Maylynn Engler. 
Since May 2004, the European Union has expanded from 15 to 27 member 
states. 
More than 170 governments will meet in The Hague from June 3 to 15 for the 
triennial Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International 
Trade in Endangered Species, CITES. 
Because this is the first CITES conference to be held in the European 
Union, WWF and TRAFFIC believe the meeting provides an opportunity for the 
EU to lead the way in promoting sustainable wildlife trade worldwide. 
"It is important that the EU adopts a clear strategic plan that guarantees 
external assistance to countries where wildlife products originate, to 
ensure their trade is sustainable," says Delia Villagrasa, advisor to WWF 
European Policy Office. 
The legal trade of wildlife products into the EU alone was worth €93 
billion in 2005, TRAFFIC estimates. 
Wildlife imports to Europe include caviar from the Caspian Sea, snakeskin 
handbags and shoes, rare reptiles as pets, as well as billiard cues made 
of ramin, a tropical hardwood tree from Southeast Asian forests. 
TRAFFIC estimates that from 2000 to 2005, Europe imported 3.4 million 
lizard, 2.9 million crocodile, and 3.4 million snake skins, all species 
listed under CITES, along with 300,000 live snakes for the pet trade. 
During the same period, the EU imported 424 metric tons of sturgeon caviar 
- more than half of all global imports. 
In 2004 alone, Europe imported more than 10 million cubic meters of 
tropical timber from Africa, South America and Asia, worth €1.2 billion. 

Illegal logging in the rainforest along the Rio Las Piedras, near the Alto 
Purus Reserved Zone, department Madre de Dios, Peru. 
Increasing demand for wildlife products is fueling both the legal and the 
illegal trade despite existing EU regulations and export-import trade 
rules, the TRAFFIC report finds. 
"While much wildlife trade is legal," said Parry-Jones, "we cannot ignore 
the growing illegal trade stemming from the demand for exotic pets, timber 
and other wildlife products," he said. "This is a serious threat to the 
survival of species such as reptiles and sturgeons." 
From 2003 to 2004, enforcement authorities in the EU made over 7,000 
seizures involving over 3.5 million CITES-listed specimens. 
"Unsustainable and illegal trade is a major factor driving biodiversity 
loss and poses a serious threat to the long-term survival of species," the 
report warns. 
Species at risk from the illegal trade include the big-leaf mahogany, 
Swietenia macrophylla, the vicuna, Vicugna vicugna, a South American 
camelid that produces small amounts of extremely fine wool, and several 
sturgeon species prized for their caviar. 

Caviar confiscated by customs officers at Heathrow Airport. United Kingdom 

From 2000 to 2005, almost 12 metric tons of caviar were seized by law 
enforcement officials. 
Some seizures demonstrate the seriousness of the problem of illegal 
wildlife trade. In the last four years, seizures in the EU of the 
Critically Endangered Egyptian tortoise represented around 13 percent of 
the estimated population of these animals remaining in the wild. 
The demand for rare specimens and products means that black market values 
can be very high. TRAFFIC reports that certain species of tortoise can 
fetch €30,000 per individual animal. 
High prices paid for rare wildlife, low penalties and low political 
awareness allow the illegal trade to flourish. "It is little wonder that 
organized crime syndicates are engaged in wildlife crime," the report 
says. 
"Illegal wildlife trade also affects the economies of developing 
countries," the report states, "Illegal logging costs developing country 
governments an estimated €10–15 billion every year in lost revenue." 
WWF and TRAFFIC point out in the report that well-regulated and legal 
trade can bring benefits to local people, local economies and 
conservation. 
For instance, the EU imports 95 percent of all vicuna wool produced, 
providing income for 700,000 people in impoverished Andean communities. 
The vicuna is a wild relation of the llama that is sheared and its wool is 
exported under CITES rules from Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile. 
Sustainable development of the Vicuna wool trade has been supported by 
Italy, Germany and the European Commission. 
Although the EU has achieved some successes in managing the wildlife 
trade, the TRAFFIC report finds it could do more to control illegal trade 
and to support exporting countries.
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