GHANA OK WITH U.S. CITES PROPOSALS

UNCLAS ACCRA 000114 DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W AND OES/ENRC/LLOYD GAMBLE SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TBIO CITES GH SUBJECT: GHANA OK WITH U.S. CITES PROPOSALS REFS: STATE 6668 THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ghana will support the U.S. priority proposals for the March 2010 CITES Meeting on sharks, corals and polar bears, but feels that U.S. proposals on bobcats require support from the European states, to avoid confusion with other lynx species. Ghana, along with several other African states, strongly opposes the Tanzanian and Zambian proposals to reduce the level of protection afforded to African elephants and to permit legalized sales of elephant ivory. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) Per reftel request, we shared the U.S. proposals for the March 2010 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) with Nana Kofi Adu-Nsiah, Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of Ghana's Forestry Commission. Mr. Adu-Nsiah will lead Ghana's delegation to the CITES meeting. -------------- Ghana Supports Most U.S. Proposals -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Mr. Adu-Nsiah said that Ghana would be able to support the U.S. proposals on sharks, corals and polar bears. However, he noted that the U.S. proposal to reduce the level of protection afforded to bobcats would require support from European states, because of the look-alike and identification problems with other species of lynx prevalent in Europe. ¶4. (SBU) He also said that Ghana fully supported and was very interested in the joint U.S.-China discussion document regarding snake conservation and international trade in snakes. He noted that commercial snake farming was becoming increasingly popular in Ghana, and the country was now a significant exporter of snakes, especially live pythons to European and North American markets. Given the growth in snake farming and exports of live snakes, the GOG was beginning to examine how snakes are handled prior to export, appropriate quarantine procedures, and the issue of inspecting snake farms. -------------- --- Ghana Opposed to Controlled Elephant Ivory Sales -------------- --- ¶5. (SBU) Mr. Adu-Nsiah noted that African elephant conservation would be the greatest concern of the sub-Saharan African states at the CITES meeting. Many African states, including Ghana, were opposed to proposals from Tanzania and Zambia to "downlist" African elephants from CITES Appendix I to Appendix II, which would pave the way for legalized and controlled sales of elephant ivory. ¶6. (SBU) In his view, Tanzania and Zambia were violating an agreement reached at the 14th Conference of the Parties to CITES to observe a moratorium on any changes to the treatment of African elephants until 2018. In response to the Tanzanian and Zambian proposals, a coalition of 23 African elephant range states (including Ghana) had submitted a counter-proposal to the CITES Secretariat asking that there be no changes in the treatment of elephants for the next 20 years. He explained that the coalition countries were deeply concerned that any legalized sales of elephant ivory would encourage poaching and put tremendous pressure on many of the smaller wild elephant populations in West, Central and Eastern Africa. There had been a spike in poaching during the last period of legalized elephant ivory sales, he noted. ¶7. (SBU) Mr. Adu-Nsiah made clear that the coalition was willing to withdraw its proposal for an extended moratorium, in the event that Tanzania and Zambia withdrew their proposals to downlist elephants, and return to a moratorium that would expire in 2018. He also stated that delegates from the coalition states had visited Brussels during the last week of January 2010 in order to enlist EU support for their position. However, it was not yet clear whether the EU would support the coalition's position, that of Tanzania and Zambia, or remain neutral. ¶8. (SBU) He understood that the U.S. would not be taking a position until after a CITES panel of experts had issued an opinion regarding the various African elephant proposals, and until after the African states had met to try and reach a consensus or compromise on the issue. TEITELBAUM