Supporting sustainable management of endangered tree species

The CITES tree species programme aims to provide direct financial assistance to Parties in taking conservation and management measures to ensure that their trade in timber, bark, extracts and other products from CITES-listed tree species is sustainable, legal and traceable.    more...

Background

Concerned that the long-term survival, of commercially valuable tree species may be threatened by over-exploitation, the CITES Conference of the Parties has agreed to include more than 900 tree species under the CITES Appendices. Products of these tree species may only be exported if the Scientific Authority of that Party has advised that the export of the specimens will not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild.

To that end, the CITES tree species programme aims to provide direct financial assistance to Parties in taking conservation and management measures to ensure that their trade in timber, bark, extracts and other products from CITES-listed tree species is sustainable, legal and traceable.

Mission

The CITES Tree Species Programme seeks to foster economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development. It helps maximizing CITES contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, notably Goal 15 as it relates to sustainably managing forests and halting biodiversity loss. The Programme aims to improve and strengthen forest governance to ensure benefit from long-term species conservation and contribute to rural development in often remote areas, sustainable economic growth at country level and long-term poverty alleviation.

Core areas of work

The Programme supports Parties that export valuable parts and derivatives of CITES-listed tree species by providing them direct financial assistance for taking conservation and management measures to ensure that their trade in timber, bark, extracts and other products from CITES-listed tree species is sustainable, legal and traceable. This will be achieved through improved practical and technological capacity for the development of non-detriment findings, enhanced silvicultural and ecological knowledge for the management of CITES-listed tree species, increased capacity in the identification of timber and non-timber forest products and effective information and tracking systems.

The CITES Tree Species Programme is dependent on donor support. The European Union has been the most important donor, whose contribution includes EUR 7 million earmarked to support the CITES tree species programme to be implemented by the CITES Secretariat, and EUR 1 million for the African Elephant Fund to be implemented by UNEP.

To facilitate a smooth implementation of the CITES tree species programme, three Regional Coordinators have been appointed, whose tasks include:

• Assist with the formulation of national project needs and priorities;
• Assist with the design of projects/activities;
• Monitor the progress of the implementation of approved activities and budgeting by implementing agencies;
• Assist in convening meetings as relevant;
• Provide technical advice to avoid duplication of effort; and
• Interact with other projects and programmes of the CITES Secretariat as requested