ECUADOR DOES NOT SUPPORT ADDIN CEDRELA TO CITES

UNCLAS QUITO 001236 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR OES/ETC - DANIEL BALZER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ETRD KSCA EUN ECON PREL EC SUBJECT: ECUADOR DOES NOT SUPPORT ADDIN CEDRELA TO CITES APPENDIX II REF: STATE 51890 ¶1. Post delivered reftel points to Frida Pin Hoppe in the Ministry of Environment on April 24; post later received the following written responses from the appropriate scientific authorities via her office. They are reproduced verbatim due to their technical nature. ¶2. What is the conservation status of Cedrela and Dalbergia species (if applicable) in the country?: In order to determine the status of the species Swietenia macrophylla and Cedrela odorata, the Ministry of Environment established a prohibition on the harvest of these two species by means of Ministerial Accord No. 167 of January 11, 2007, published in Official Registry No. 18 of February 8, 2007. The Ministry has plans for an inventory project that would include international cooperation in order to raise funds. ¶3. What are the impacts of harvest and international trade on its wild populations?: Ecuador is focusing on sustainable logging, with a forestry standard based on the Basic Principles of Sustainable Forest Management, that includes: sustainability of production; maintenance of tree canopy; biodiversity conservation; management co-responsibility; reduction of negative environmental and social impacts. ¶4. What are the volumes exported from Ecuador and what parts and/or products of the species are exported?: This information does not exist since national totals are not disaggregated by species. ¶5. Does Ecuador support or oppose the proposals to list the species in Appendix II, and does Ecuador prefer to annotate the proposals to limit the listing?: The inclusion of a species in Appendix II assumes a series of commitments on the part of countries in the species' distribution area; these commitments require the allocation of funds; funds that countries like Ecuador, which prioritizes investment in social causes, do not have. It would have been important for Germany to include some of the distribution area countries in the drafting of its Proposal No. 33; information in the document should be more extensive. Ecuador does not support including the Cedrela genus in Appendix II, however we will evaluate its inclusion in Appendix III. In the case of the Dalbergia genus (which does not exist in Ecuador),we support the position of countries within its area of distribution. JEWELL