CITES: DANES SUPPORT SHARKS, SNAKES, CORAL; AGAINST LYNX

UNCLAS COPENHAGEN 000070

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR OES/ENRC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV KSCA CITES AORC UNEP DA
SUBJECT: CITES: DANES SUPPORT SHARKS, SNAKES, CORAL; AGAINST LYNX
AND POLAR BEARS

REF: STATE 6668

(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In response to demarche points in reftel,
Denmark's likely head of delegation to the CITES COP-15 meeting in
Doha indicated - pending final EU positions - that her government is
likely to support the USG positions on sharks, coral and snakes, but
oppose the USG on polar bears and lynxes. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Regional Environment Officer (REO) delivered ref A demarche
to Maj Friis Munk (MFM@sns.dk; tel. 45-72542428 and 45-39273929),
Head of Section at the Danish Nature and Forestry Agency (under the
Ministry of the Environment) and her colleague Niels Kurt Nielsen
(NIN@sns.dk; tel. 45-72542427) on February 4. Munk and Nielsen
confirmed they are Danish contact points for all the CITES issues we
raised.


3. (SBU) Munk had recently returned from an EU CITES coordination
meeting in Brussels where all issues were discussed. She said the
Danish delegation to CITES COP-15 had not been finalized, but
speculated that she will likely lead it. Like all EU member states,
she said, Denmark was obliged to support all EU positions at COP-15,
except in the event of reservations on behalf of its overseas
territories. With the general caveat that EU positions are not yet
final, Munk and Nielsen responded issue by issue as follows.


4. (SBU) Polar Bear: Munk said the EU position had not been
finalized on polar bears, but strongly hinted that Denmark would
work within the EU to oppose the U.S. proposal, at Greenland's
request. She said separate analyses of the U.S. proposal by the
IUCN and the CITES secretariat had not been favorable. According to
Munk, those reports noted that habitat destruction due to loss of
Arctic ice cover is a long term process, making a CITES listing
"premature."


5. (SBU) In addition, she said, trade has only a marginal effect on
polar bear survival. Greenland has already stopped the export of
polar bear products, and since 2006 has imposed hunting quotas to
ensure sustainability, calibrated to different bear sub-populations.
The Greenland quota has declined from 139 in 2007 to 130 in 2009,
divided among four sub-populations (Kane Basin, Baffin Bay, Davis
Strait, and East and South Greenland). Under a 2009 MOU, Greenland
and Canada have cooperated on data sharing and dividing their quotas
on shared populations. Greenland does not permit trophy hunting now
(she said it could in future, after making a finding on
sustainability),but indigenous hunting is important for both
economic and cultural reasons.


6. (SBU) Lynx: Munk said that the EU is likely to oppose
de-listing the lynx and implied that Denmark would support the EU
position. Denmark is not home to any wild feline species, but in
formulating its position will be sensitive to the position of fellow
EU states that do harbor wild populations. She cited Sweden and the
Iberian nations as examples, saying some are concerned that removal
of any wild cat species from CITES may cause problems with
identification and law enforcement for similar species. Munk
inquired if the U.S. might propose adding the lynx to Appendix III,
a decision which could be taken at the national level.


7. (SBU) Sharks: Munk said Denmark (and the EU) would likely
support the U.S. proposal on sharks, and hoped the U.S. would
support an EU proposal to list two other shark species (the spiny
dogfish and porbeagle sharks),which are also long-lived and
threatened as bycatch.


8. (SBU) Corals: The EU is co-sponsoring the US proposal.


9. (SBU) Snakes: The EU will support the US proposed workshop.


10. (SBU) Other: Munk said that in addition to its shark proposal,
the EU would make proposals on electronic permitting, and tigers.
Nielsen said the EU position on Monaco's tuna proposal is the
subject of wrangling between the EU directorate generals on
environment and fisheries over how to interpret the last ICAAT
meeting.


11. (SBU) Process: Munk said another EU working group meeting
would take place on March 3 in Brussels, to discuss a proposed EC
position paper on these and other issues. If approved, a European
Council decision was expected by the March 15 European Council
meeting in Brussels at attache level. Once the common EU position
is approved, she said, the Danish Environment Ministry will request
authority from the Danish parliament to make commitments at the
COP-15 meeting in Doha.

FULTON