Guatemala and Nicaragua’s proposal to list mahogany in Appendix II of CITES was approved by the 12th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), with 68 votes for and 38 against.
The proposal had initially sparked an intense controversy in Guatemala, where the logging industry strongly lobbied against the decision to proceed with the listing of this highly commercial tree species. However, in spite of these pressures, Guatemala’s CITES authority, represented by the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP) decided to submit this proposal. This move was supported by ParksWatch – Guatemala, which at the request of Guatemalan authorities sent a delegate to the CITES Conference, held in Santiago de Chile on November 3rd through 15th, 2002.
The approval came as the result of the intensive efforts put forth by the Guatemalan and Nicaraguan delegations, whose various press conferences, receptions, seminars, and presentations worked to convince the majority of the participating countries. It is worth mentioning the public declaration made by the US representative following the secret vote imposed by Brazil, who announced having voted in favour of the CITES listing in order to support the legal and transparent trade of this species.
This is a great success for the Guatemalan and Nicaraguan delegations, which faced the fierce opposition of such big mahogany exporters as Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. Moreover, this move represents undeniable evidence of the fact that environmental organizations such as ParksWatch, now have the ability to influence decisions – both at national or international level – regarding the protection of nature and the control of depredatory human activities.
Illegal logging is one of the most important causes of forest loss in Guatemala and all other Latin American countries. In Guatemala, the majority of the stands suited for commercial exploitation are concentrated in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. In order to put a halt to illegal logging, CONAP granted 300,000 ha of forest to local groups and companies in exchange for a pledge to submit their production to a certification process and stop forest destruction. However, since the remaining part of the Reserve still lacks appropriate control, mahogany exploitation in Guatemala is threatening the largest tract of tropical rainforest in Central America. ParksWatch reported logging activities in El Mirador-Río Azul National Park, the Yaxhá, Nakum, Naranjo Natural Monument, and the San Miguel la Palotada Protected Biotope, three of the reserve’s most important core areas. Regulation of international trade in mahogany constitutes a fundamental tool for the conservation of this critical habitat.
The international trade in species of fauna and flora – estimated to amount to thousands of millions of dollars annually – is the most important single cause of the extinction of many species. The fact that overexploitation due to mahogany trade is severely impacting global diversity was the precursor to the drafting of an international agreement in 1973 – known as the CITES Convention – aiming at protecting the species included in its 3 appendices. Although the inclusion of mahogany in Appendix II of CITES will not in itself protect the species from logging, it represents the fist step and an important tool toward regulating all activities related to its exploitation and therefore increases the prospects of the conservation of biological diversity in the region.
(Top photo: One of the many sawmills inside Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve.)
ParksWatch: November 2003