It’s been a strange week for conservation efforts at the Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Pessimists may argue world leaders have clearly demonstrated their lack of concern for our friends in the plant and animal kingdoms. Optimists will say some progress is better than none.
Either way you want to look at it, economic concerns have dominated the event with coral, sharks, polar bears, and Atlantic bluefin tuna among the species that failed to win protection support from delegates.
Japan, which imports 80% of the world’s annual Atlantic bluefin tuna catch to be used in popular food dishes like sushi and sashimi, led the opposition to a trade ban on the basis is would hurt economic development. Conservationists warn bluefin tuna populations have dropped by 75% over the last five decades and the species will not survive without protection measures.
“Where is the precautionary principle? Where are the visionaries? Will CITES really wait until the species is commercially extinct before they act? Shame,” Species Survival Network President Will Travers said of the vote.
Thirty one species of red and pink coral that represent tens of millions in annual trade were also denied protection. The corals are used to create consumer products including jewelry and household decorations.
There were a couple winners in the animal kingdom. As wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC noted: Â a rare Bolivian rhinoceros beetle, Rhinoceros populations and Asian big cats (including the Tiger) got protections, as did African elephants when delegates voted down a bid by Zambia and Tanzania to sell off ivory stocks.
Reading news on the various proposals and vote results got me thinking about a presentation by Suzanne Shelton from the Shelton Group at the Sustainability in Packaging conference in Orlando, FL earlier this month in which she relayed the following results from the company’s market research:Â
- 66.9% of American consumers will choose their comfort or convenience over environmental concerns in purchasing.
- There is no single convenience that a majority of American consumers would give up to help save the environment.
- Only 35% of consumers would give up their iPod if they believed it was harming the environment.
- At the same time, 73% of consumers would stop purchasing a product like toilet paper from a company known to be harming the environment.
All of the above leaves me in doubt for the future of the overall global conservation effort.  If individuals, corporations, states and national governments can’t overcome thoughts of their own economic interests – how far will the efforts get?
Tags: animals, bluefin tuna, bolivia, CITES, conference on international trade in endangered species, conservation, coral, elephants, ivory, japan, polar bears, rhinoceros, sharks, Species Survival Network, tanzania, TRAFFIC, zambia
