ITTO–CITES Programme in the spotlight

A side-event held on 3 October 2016 at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES COP 17) in Johannesburg, South Africa, drew more than 70 people to learn about work conducted under the ITTO–CITES Programme on Implementing CITES for Tropical Tree Species.
 
The Programme, which started in 2007, assists countries to improve the management of tree species listed in CITES Appendix II. Participants in the side-event heard presentations from agencies implementing activities under the Programme in Cameroon, Indonesia, Brazil and Peru, and they learned about a global initiative to develop a reference database to enable the reliable identification (and assist in the tracing) of Dalbergia species.
 
The ITTO–CITES Programme is about to complete its second phase of operations. Participants heard plans for future collaborative work between CITES and ITTO on CITES-listed tree species, given that more than 200 tropical tree species were added to CITES appendices at COP 17. The agenda of the side-event and all presentations are available at: www.itto.int.