Asia regional meeting on CITES Tree Species Programme calls for more training on non-detriment findings

Participants at a meeting on the CITES Tree Species Programme (CTSP) held in Indonesia on 25–29 June 2018 called for more training on the preparation of non-detriment findings for CITES-listed tree species as a way of improving the regulation of trade in CITES-listed tree products.
 
The aim of the CTSP, which was announced in June 2017, is to support countries that export valuable parts and derivatives of CITES-listed tree species. The CTSP is continuing the work carried out for more than a decade by the ITTO–CITES Programme, which came to an end in 2016. More than 900 tree species, many of which are highly valuable, are listed under the CITES Appendices.
 
The CTSP Regional Meeting for Asia, which was organized by ITTO, the CITES Secretariat and the Indonesian Government’s Directorate General of Nature Resources Conservation and Ecosystem, was attended by about 50 people from eight countries in the region. It provided an overview of the CITES Tree Species Programme and its work to date; reviewed national project proposals; and made recommendations on various issues related to CITES implementation for tree species.
 
One of the meeting’s recommendations was that international organizations should fund training in the region to increase the capacity of countries to develop non-detriment findings in line with CITES requirements. To ensure cost-effectiveness, regional training workshops could be held in conjunction with other regional and global meetings, such as training workshops on the ITTO criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management.
 
Participants at the regional meeting also agreed that the CITES Secretariat should create a web-based platform to facilitate networking and the exchange of information, knowledge and expertise on species identification, product marking and traceability, the development of non-detriment findings, and other aspects involved in CITES implementation for tree species.
 
The Second Regional Workshop on the Management of Wild and Planted Agarwood Taxa was held in Yogyakarta immediately following the conclusion of the CTSP Regional Meeting for Asia. The aim of the workshop was to strengthen cooperation among Range States on the management and conservation of agarwood-producing species and to discuss how best to balance the management of natural forests and planted forests in agarwood production and trade.
 
Among other things, workshop participants recommended that the CTSP produce a global overview on the status of conservation of agarwood-producing species; the latest technologies for producing agarwood products; current inoculation methods; case studies on best practices; and terminology for agarwood products. The report should also make recommendations on how best to balance the management of natural and planted agarwood-producing forests.