WWF/TRAFFIC: Experts Gather to Confer on the Science, Management and Trade in Corallium
International experts, including Ernie Cooper, WWF-Canada Director, TRAFFIC & Wildlife Trade, today concluded four days of sharing information and efforts to end the unsustainable harvest and trade in Corallium (red and pink corals).
“Products made from Corallium command high prices and near-global market demand. As a result, their trade in is extensive and profitable and provides ample incentive for their harvest,” said Cooper. “Unfortunately, these species have life-history characteristics that make them particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation: they are long lived; they are extremely slow growing, late maturing and have low fecundity. In addition, equipment used to harvest Corallium in some areas is non-selective, destructive and also destroys the invertebrate species dependent on the corals as a substrate.”
In June 2007, the United States proposed listing Corallium in Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The proposal was submitted during the 14th meeting of the member countries of CITES (CoP14). Initially the proposal was accepted and the international community was poised to regulate the trade in red and pink corals. However, during the last minutes of the final plenary session, the debate was re-opened and a secret ballot was requested. The secret ballot vote then failed to garner the necessary two-thirds majority to support the listing.
The 176 member countries of CITES will be meeting again in 2010 at CoP15. The purpose of this weeks workshop has been to bring together international experts to share and discuss the current state of knowledge of the science, management and trade in Pacific species of Corallium. The ultimate goal is to achieve consensus on the need to list Corallium in CITES at CoP 15.
Millions of items and thousands of kilograms of red and pink coral are traded internationally each year as jewellery and in other collectables. “Commercial harvest has been so extensive that it has decreased the genetic diversity in some populations of Corallium,”continued Cooper. “It has removed the large mature colonies, which may be hundreds of years old, and created populations dominated by small, immature colonies.”
One of the topics of discussion during the workshop was the need to create a guide to the identification of the precious corals. “If Corallium is eventually listed in CITES Appendix II, then enforcement officers around the world will need the tools to identify the pieces and products in trade,” says Cooper. “If authorities can’t identify the items, then they can’t enforce the CITES listing, and the much needed conservation of these animals won’t be achieved.” Cooper is leading the team that is developing the guide.
TRAFFIC is a joint program of WWF and the IUCN—the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A central aim of TRAFFIC’s activities is to contribute to the wildlife trade-related priorities of these partners.
TRAFFIC also works in close co-operation with the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.