CITES & CMS

CITES & CMS

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

https://cites.org/eng

CITES aims to ensure that international trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. International wildlife trade is estimated to be worth billions of dollars annually, and to include hundreds of millions of plant and animal specimens. Trade ranges from live animals and plants to a wide array of products derived from them, including food, skins, timber, tourist curios, and medicines. CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975 and has 183 State members (known as Parties). CITES is legally binding but it does not take the place of national laws. It provides a framework for each Party, which must adopt domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level. CITES gives protection to more than 35,000 species which are listed in the three Appendices according to how threatened they are by international trade:

Appendix I: species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

Appendix II: species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.

Appendix III: species protected in at least one country which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade.

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

https://www.cms.int

CMS is a framework Convention under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme and provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats. CMS instruments consist of legally binding treaties (Agreements) to less formal instruments, such as Memoranda of Understanding that can be adapted to the needs of particular regions or species. Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I of the Convention and species that would significantly benefit from international co-operation are listed in Appendix II. The three CMS instruments most relevant to antelopes are: the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelope  (http://www.cms.int/saiga), the Sahelo-Saharan Megafauna Concerted Action (http://www.cms.int/en/legalinstrument/sahelo-saharan-megafauna) and the Central Asian Mammals Initiative (http://www.cms.int/cami). 

Antelope species listed on the CITES and CMS appendices are shown in the Table below.


CITESCMS
SpeciesIIIIIIIII
Addax Addax nasomaculatusX--X-
Scimitar-horned oryx Oryx dammahX--XX
Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryxX----
Giant sable Hippotragus niger varianiX----
White-eared kob Kobus kob leucotis----X
Lechwe Kobus leche-X---
Bontebok Damaliscus p. pygargus-X---
Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra--Nepal, Pakistan--
Dama gazelle Nanger damaX--X-
Chinkara Gazella bennettii--Pakistan--
Cuvier’s gazelle Gazella cuvieriX--X-
Dorcas gazelle Gazella dorcas--Algeria, TunisiaX-
Neumann’s gazelle Gazella erlangeri*----X
Slender-horned gazelle Gazella leptocerosX--X-
Goitered gazelle Gazella subgutturosa----X
Red-fronted gazelle Eudorcas rufifrons**---X-
Mongolian gazelle Procapra gutturosa----X
Saiga Saiga borealis***-X--X
Saiga Saiga tatarica-X--X
Bay duiker Cephalophus dorsalis-X---
Jentink’s duiker Cephalophus jentinkiX----
Ogilby’s duiker Cephalophus ogilbyi-X---
Yellow-backed duiker Cephalophus silvicultor-X---
Zebra duiker Cephalophus zebra-X---
Four-horned antelope Tetracerus quadricornis--Nepal--
Nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelusPakistan
Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsoniiX----
Pronghorn Antilocapra americanaX (Mexico) ----
*Not recognized as a species by IUCN; **Includes E. albonotata, E. tilonura;
***Referred to as S. tatarica mongolica by IUCN

ASG provides comments on Saiga tatarica and Pantholops hodgsonii to the CITES Secretariat, on an annual basis, and responds to other requests for information or opinions, as requested.

 

ASG has liaised with the CMS Secretariat on the CMS Saiga Antelope MoU since 2006, including wok on revision of the work programme. We assisted the CMS Secretariat in development of the
Central Asian Mammals Initiative, including planning a transboundary landscape planning
workshop and facilitating the CAMI mid-project review workshop in April 2018. We also collaborate on the Sahelo-Saharan Megafauna concerted action.