Notification to the Parties

CONCERNING:

Relationship between ex situ breeding operations and in situ conservation

1. Decision 11.102 (Rev. CoP12), directs the Animals Committee to:

continue to examine the complex issues related to the origin of founder breeding stock and the relationship between ex situ breeding operations and in situ conservation of the species and, in collaboration with the Plants Committee, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, identify possible strategies and other mechanisms by which registered ex situ breeding operations may contribute to enhancing the recovery and/or conservation of the species within the countries of origin, and report its findings at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

2. The Secretariat sent Notification to the Parties No. 2001/091 of 19 December 2001, inviting all Parties and organizations to provide information on the relationship between ex situ production systems and in situ conservation programmes for CITES-listed species. The Secretariat reported the limited responses to this Notification to the Animals Committee (see document AC18 Doc. 10).

3. The issue was discussed at the 19th meeting of the Animals Committee (Geneva, August 2003; see documents AC19 Doc. 11.2 and AC19 WG2 Doc. 1). The present Notification was developed in collaboration with a working group of the Animals Committee, which was established to look at the relationship between ex situ breeding operations and in situ conservation of CITES-listed species.

4. Parties and organizations are hereby invited to provide information on case studies concerning the relationship between ex situ breeding operations and in situ conservation of CITES-listed species for compilation and analysis by the working group of the Animals Committee.

5. The case studies should be submitted to the CITES Secretariat by 15 December 2003 at the latest. A suggested format for submitting the information is presented in the Annex to this Notification.

6. The information received will be presented to the Animals Committee to assist it in the implementation of Decision 11.102 (Rev. CoP12) and in the preparation of its report for the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

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Annex

Case study concerning relationship between ex situ breeding operations
and in situ conservation of CITES-listed species

1. Author

2. Species

3. CITES Appendix

4. Distribution

5. Size of wild population (globally and per range State, in as far as known)

6. Conservation status (cf. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; national conservation status information)

7. Population trends in the wild (i.e. increasing; decreasing; stable or unknown, per range State and overall)

8. Where applicable: information on in situ conservation programmes for the species concerned (including location and nature of the programme)

9. For each ex situ breeding operation that is the subject of this study:

a) Name

b) Location

c) Year of establishment

d) CITES registration number (if applicable)

e) Type of operation (registered commercial, non-registered commercial, non-commercial)

f) Main products of the breeding operation (e.g. live animals; skins; meat)

g) Origin of the founder stock for the operations (where known)

h) Number of individuals produced annually.

10. How do ex situ breeding operations contribute to the in situ recovery and/or conservation of the species? For example:

a) Have live individuals from the ex situ breeding operations been reintroduced into the wild?

If so: – When, how many and where? From what operations?

– Were the IUCN Reintroduction Guidelines followed?

– Is there a monitoring programme in place to follow the reintroductions?

– Has information from such monitoring programmes been analysed and published?

– Has the impact of the reintroductions been quantified or qualified?

b) Have ex situ breeding operations otherwise supported in situ conservation for the species they breed?

If so: – Was any financial support provided? By which operations?

– Was any other kind of support provided? By which operations?

– When and where was (or is) the support provided?

– What has been the impact of this support?

c) Have ex situ breeding operations been involved in species conservation education in the country of origin of the species, or the country in which the ex situ breeding operation exists? If so, provide details.

d) Are there other ways in which the ex situ breeding operations contribute to the in situ conservation of the species they breed?

11. How does or could the in situ conservation of a CITES-listed species be enhanced by operations breeding these species ex situ? For example:

a) Are there specific recovery or conservation programmes for CITES-listed species that are bred ex situ?

b) Have such programmes received support from ex situ breeding operations? If so provide details, including an evaluation of the effectiveness of the support.

c) Would these recovery or conservation programmes benefit from enhanced support from ex situ breeding operations, and if so in what form?