CITES Timeline (1900-2004)

Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora:

A CITES TIMELINE (1900-2004)

Prepared by Ms. Barry Walsh
Originally presented at the International Orchid Conservation Congress II
held in Sarasota Florida in 2004

The purpose of this timeline is to provide readers with insight into the following questions.
* What were the predecessors of CITES?
* How did this United Nations treaty known as CITES come to be?
* How has CITES evolved over three decades?

PREDECESSORS OF CITES

1900. London Convention Designed to Ensure Conservation of Various Species of Wild Animals in Africa Which Are Useful to Man or Inoffensive.

1911. North Pacific Fur Seal Convention.
Regulated over-exploitation of fur seals at sea and on land. Pribilof Islands off Alaska.
 
1933. London Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in Their Natural State.

1940. The Washington Convention on Nature Protection and Wild Life Preservation in the Western Hemisphere. Washington, D.C.

1945. Birth of the United Nations.
United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO). San Francisco, California. 51 members committed "to promote peace and international cooperation and security."

Original UN Seal	Current UN Seal

1946. International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling. Washington, D.C.

1948. Birth of the IUPN.
International Union for the Protection of Nature (IUPN), forerunner of IUCN, founded at Fontainebleau, France. Backed by U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

1949. First United Nations Conservation Conference.
U.N. Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources (UNSCCUR). Lake Success, Long Island, New York. Aldo Leopold, America's prophet of "sustainable yield" and "wise-use conservation."

IUPN-UNESCO Conference on the Protection of Nature.
Held in parallel with UNSCCUR, it called for international legislation "to maintain nature's equilibrium" and listed "gravely endangered species."

1956. IUPN becomes IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

IUCN logos: (left to right) 1954 "flaming artichoke" for first IUCN headquarters in Brussels, Belgium; 1977 letter block; and the current logo adopted in 1992.

1960. IUCN General Assembly resolution called for international convention regulating trade in endangered wildlife species.

1963. IUCN called for convention regulating "export, transit, and import of rare or threatened wildlife species or their skins or trophies."

1964. IUCN prepared a first draft of a convention.

1965. IUCN met with U.N. and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and drafted a trade convention on endangered species.

1967. IUCN sent draft of convention to the U.N.

1969. IUCN sent second draft to the U.N. and prepared a list of species to be covered by the convention.

Other Calls for an Endangered Species Convention
 
U.S. Endangered Species Conservation Act (ESA).
Amendments called for an international ministerial meeting to create a binding convention on the conservation of endangered species.
 
1972. U.N. Conference on the Human Environment. 
Known as the Stockholm Conference, it recommended the establishment of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP).

Stockholm Conference Principle 2 read:
"The natural resources of the earth, including the air, water, land, flora and fauna, and especially representative samples of natural ecosystems, must be safeguarded..."   and "that a plenipotentiary conference be convened as soon as possible... to prepare and adopt a convention on export, import, and transit of certain species of wild animals and plants."

The Kenya Version of a Draft Convention. 
The USA prepared a draft of a convention on endangered species, based on Audubon Society fieldwork with UNEP (headquartered in Nairobi). Thus the U.S. draft became known as the "Kenya Version."

CITES BEGINS

1973. Birth of CITES, the Washington Convention.
A Plenipotentiary Conference to Conclude an International Convention on Trade in Certain Species of Wildlife met in Washington, D.C. Representatives from 80 nations debated for 3 weeks.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora---Preamble, 25 Articles, Appendices I, II, and III (listing all orchids) and IV (providing a model permit)---was signed on March 3, 1973, by 21 nations. The U.N. required 10 ratifications by national governments before the treaty could enter into force.

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is founded.
The same year as the Birth of CITES, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens was established in Sarasota, Florida.  Epiphytic research and conservation began immediately, and Selby Gardens opened to the public in 1975. 
 
1974. IUCN Threatened Plants Committee.
IUCN established the Committee to gather data on threatened plant species worldwide. 
 
1975. CITES Entry into Force.
CITES entered into force as a U.N. treaty with the tenth ratification by a signatory country (Canada). Other charter Parties to the treaty were Chile, Cyprus, Ecuador, Nigeria, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, USA, and Uruguay.

1976. First CITES Conference of Parties (CoP1).
Berne, Switzerland. Adopted the Berne Criteria for listing species, which required evaluation of both biological and trade status.
 
1979. Second CITES Conference of Parties (CoP2).
San Jose, Costa Rica. Defined "artificially propagated." Called Extraordinary Meeting at Bonn, Germany, on financing. 

1981. Third CITES Conference of Parties (CoP3). 
New Delhi, India. Adopted CITES elephant logo. Established Technical Committee (forerunner of Animals Committee and Plants Committee).

IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC).
IUCN established the SSC with 7000 members in 120 specialist groups. SSC prepares IUCN Red Lists of Threatened Species.

1983. Fourth CITES Conference of Parties (Cop4).
Gabarone, Botswana. Discussed Trophy Hunting Paradox---that hunting revenue could fund conservation of natural habitats.

World Commission on Environment and Development.
Known as the Brundtlund Commission, it would set the agenda for the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development of 1992.

1985. Fifth CITES Conference of Parties (CoP5).
Buenas Aires, Argentina. 10th Anniversary of CITES. First decade of treaty was spent debating how the treaty should be operated and which species should be listed. The trend was to uplist species in the Appendices.
 
1987. Sixth CITES Conference of Parties (CoP6).
Ottawa, Canada. Established CITES Plants Committee to advise on biological and trade information on plant species. PC members are elected from each CITES region by Conference of the Parties.

1989. Seventh CITES Conference of Parties (CoP7).
Lausanne, Switzerland. Placed all Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium species on Appendix I and established a CITES Plants Officer.

1992. Eighth CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP8).
Discussed listing commodity species, such as timber trees. Began developing new criteria for listing species.
 
The Earth Summit.
The U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), known as the Earth Summit. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Agenda prepared by the Brundtland Commission. The Summit adopted Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 
 
1994. Ninth CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP9).
Resolution 9.24 (based on the Precautionary Principle) required restrictions if a threatened species may be affected by trade or if a species may become threatened by trade.

Orchid Conservation Conference 97	Cites Plants Committee

1999. Ninth Meeting of the CITES Plants Committee.
Darwin, Australia. Orchidaceae to be next group reviewed for appropriateness of listing species. Launched "CITES and Plants--A User's Guide" with color slides and text. 
 
2000. 11th CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP11).
Gigiri, Kenya. Resolution 11.11 stated that flasked seedlings, produced in a manner intensively manipulated by human intervention, cannot be considered taken from the wild.
 
2001. First International Orchid Conservation Congress.
Perth, Australia. Sponsored by the IUCN/SSC Orchid Specialist Group, it established an In Situ Conservation Committee to promote knowledge needed to determine if orchid populations are self-sustainable or require human intervention. 

2002. 12th CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP12)
Santiago, Chile. Established Memorandum of Understanding with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Uplisted neotropical bigleaf mahogany to Appendix II.
Sixth Conference of Parties to CBD.

The Hague, The Netherlands. Recognizing the value of plant genetic resources, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.

World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Johannesburg, South Africa. U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, after conducting a 5-year review of the 1992 Earth Summit, held the 2002 World Summit as a 10-year review.

2004. Second International Orchid Congress.
Sarasota, Florida. IUCN/SSC/OSG is sponsoring IOCC II workshops, presentations, poster sessions, field rips, and a CITES Forum on orchid conservation.

13th CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP13).
Bangkok, Thailand. October 2004. Future CoPs will be held every 3 years to control costs of implementing the treaty, which becomes increasingly complex, as the number of listed species increases.

Conclusion:
Is CITES the world's most effective conservation treaty, as described by its proponents?
Or is it merely a trade treaty and, according to critics, a far cry from conservation?

The debate, with its historic roots, continues today.