GOH PREPARATION FOR CITES II LISTING OF BIGLEAF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000753 SIPDIS SECSTATE please pass USAID for CJohnson STATE FOR OES/ETC Eskewes and FWS/DMA PThomas E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ETRD ECON HO SUBJECT: GOH PREPARATION FOR CITES II LISTING OF BIGLEAF MAHOGANY REF: SECSTATE 16166 ¶1. (U) Summary. The scientific authority in Honduras, made up of both governmental and private entities, is preparing for the Appendix II listing of Bigleaf Mahogany to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). While Honduras does have some administrative and legal structure already in place, it lacks the additional technical training and funding to make their counter trafficking efforts and overall forestry management efforts fully successful. Issues Honduras would like raised at the next Mahogany Working Group include certification, financing, information exchange, management issues and attracting private investment for plantations. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The scientific authority in Honduras, comprised of the Panamerican Agricultural School, the National Forestry Science School, the National Autonomous University of Honduras, and the National Forestry Department (COHDEFOR) meets monthly to discuss and give technical and scientific opinions on use of and exportation of CITES species. In previous administrations, the meetings were strictly run by the Honduran National Forestry Department, COHDEFOR. The Office of Biodiversity in the Ministry of Natural Resources, SERNA, is currently the leading scientific authority for the group. ¶3. (U) COHDEFOR is responsible for management of national forests, the land from which the largest portion of mahogany is harvested and exported. COHDEFOR sells the wood by board- feet to agro-forestry groups and private businesses. Agro- forestry groups and private businesses do the actual industrial transformation; both internal commercialization and export of industrialized products. ¶4. (U) COHDEFOR has provided the following answers to specific questions raised in paragraph 4 of Secstate 16166: a) What is the host country outlook for implementing the Apendix II listing? The AFE-COHDEFOR is creating a special action plan in order to implement the requirements for the commerce of mahogany in accordance with the proposed Apendix II listing in CITES for bigleaf mahogany. This process includes: -- Revision of the technical, regulatory and administrative norms and control mechanisms in the management plan. -- Training in a wide range of related subjects. -- Methods of control over illegal cutting in the forests and roadways, coordinated with the district attorney's office for environmental affairs, the Attorney General's office of environmental affairs, municipalities, organized civil society, the National Police, and the army. Additionally there is a need for controls in industrial centers. -- Measures to achieve a certification of forestry management. -- Continue the implementation of the certification program for forestry plantations. -- Intensify the efforts of mahogany plantations and other valuable species on national lands, community lands and private lands. Measures for the filing, collection and processing of documents required by CITES is more problematic. The GOH has encountered serious difficulties in the verification of the place of origin for mahogany, when applications for exportation of furniture and "transformed or semi-transformed" wood are presented. There are no means or mechanisms in place for export control (beside the fact that exports of mahogany are authorized, Honduras does not appear on the list of exporters of this species.) Due to the aforementioned and other situations, the feasibility of implementation of methods of control for the trafficking and sale of mahogany is low without the strengthening of the issues pointed out in the following responses listed below in numbers 3, 4 and 5. b) Will implementation fit into an existing system for sustainable management of forests and monitoring of trade? The implementation of CITES requirements falls under the current system for sustainable management in accordance with criteria and indicators already established. c) In what areas will the government need to build new capacity in order to implement the listing? Do they appear to have the resources (financial, technical) and legislative framework to do so? The Government of Honduras needs to strengthen the systematic examination of biological information about the wild populations and/or plantations of the species. This can be improved through the strengthening of the institutions that make up the scientific authority. Honduras also needs to improve public awareness and promotion of the certification of wood (environmental and social) as well as strengthen the mechanisms of administration of the Management Plan and control of illegal trafficking. The GOH and the scientific authority realize they need to develop a specific educational plan for: - Public defenders, attorney general's offices - Technical advisors working on Forestry Management - Customs Officials - National Police Officials - Organized Agro-Forestry groups - Private Companies: Forest owners, lumberjacks, wood processors / finishers, exporters - Administrative authorities A national norm pertaining to the implementation of CITES (i.e. adaptation of the existing technical norms agreed to in the CITES) needs to be created. The legal instruments at the national level for the implementation of CITES is the CITES convention itself which Honduras has ratified. Honduras also has forestry and environmental laws which provide institutions with clear legal mandates for the implementation of CITES. The technical capacity for the implementation of CITES exists both within and outside of Government agencies, but it requires up-to-date training. There is a lack of technical training of the management and use of plantations and natural forests for peasant groups involved in the exploitation of colored wood (such as mahogany) and the industrial or institutional technicians who act in compliance with scientific and administrative authorities. There is a lack of financial resources to carry out studies of wild populations (inventories, distribution, etc.) There need to be more public awareness campaigns at a national level. d) What specific issues would the host government like to see addressed at the meeting of the Mahogany Working Group? Themes the GOH would like to discuss in the Mahogany working group are: -- Certification of forestry management and forestry products -- Financing for certain aspects of trafficking control, such as identification guides for CITES species of wood (for customs officials). -- Exchange of experiences and information between countries who have common interests (countries that share natural distribution of mahogany) -- Management and protection projects for natural forests. -- Programs for the attraction of private investment for plantations PALMER