Momentum is building towards stronger protections for forests to address illegal logging and timber trade.
We are facing a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and toxic pollution. Forests sit at the nexus of this crisis, as they play a vital role in mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity, and supporting the lives and livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples and forest-dependent communities. However, the ability of forest ecosystems to fulfill these critical functions is increasingly threatened by deforestation and forest degradation. In order to address global deforestation, we must focus on curbing illegal logging and timber trade, which is a neglected but critical component of protecting forest ecosystems.
In November, Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) gathered in Panama and reaffirmed their commitment to addressing the biodiversity and climate crisis. They took important steps to protect forests by adopting proposals to regulate the international trade of more than 150 species (spp.) of trees.
The Conference of the Parties to CITES (CITES CoP19) closed on November 25th, after two weeks of negotiations on critical issues related to the trade of endangered species of animals and plants. States adopted five proposals to list seven genera, including more than 150 species of trees, in Appendix II of CITES. By listing a new species in Appendix II, countries commit to ensure the legality and sustainability of trade in order to avoid practices incompatible with the survival of the species. The recent CITES decisions are an essential step toward halting deforestation and addressing the triple planetary crisis.
To put these decisions in perspective and highlight their importance, here are a few key data:
- Of the 60,000 known tree species, at least 30 percent are threatened with extinction globally, and it is likely that more will be found to be threatened once conservation assessments have been completed for the quarter of tree species without them. That means there is twice the number of threatened tree species globally than threatened mammal, bird, amphibian, and reptile species combined.
- Not all of the threatened species are traded or qualify for CITES listing, and before CoP19 fewer than 1,000 tree species were included in the CITES appendices.
What Happened at CITES CoP19
Year after year, CITES Parties have increasingly added entire genera of tree species to CITES, including Dalbergia spp. at CoP17 and Cedrela spp. at CoP18. But, at CoP19, States doubled down and agreed to protect more than 150 species:
- Handroanthus spp. with 35 species,
- Tabebuia spp. with 76 species,
- Roseodendron spp. with 2 species,
- Dipteryx spp. with 15 species,
- Afzelia spp. with 7 species,
- Pterocarpus spp. with 12 additional African species (2 are already listed), and
- Khaya spp. with 5 species.
However, more listings are not good news for biodiversity, as listings imply that a species is threatened enough to require protection.
While some proposals, such as the African tree species (Pterocarpus spp. and Khaya spp. proposals) were approved by consensus, without any calls from States where these trees grow to delay implementation, the road to adoption was bumpy for all five proposals. Countries that are major exporters of these species employed a number of different strategies to oppose and delay listing.
Brazil, for example, held some contradictory positions during the process, perhaps due in part to the fact that the delegation consisted of officials from both the outgoing Bolsonaro administration and the incoming Lula one. During the discussions of the Dipteryx spp. and Handroanthus spp., Tabebuia spp., and Roseodendron spp. proposals, Brazil came out swinging. Despite the rampant illegal logging and laundering of illegal timber in the country – which was publicly recognized by Brazilian authorities in their own proposal on Brazilwood and during the meeting – Brazil claimed that there was no risk of commercial exploitation because Brazil practices sustainable forest management with associated digital traceability and chain of custody supervision. Brazil also alleged that the listing would undermine sustainable forest management, lead to deforestation, cause socioeconomic harm, and increase bureaucratic demands.
Additionally, Peru insisted that the Dipteryx spp. listing should not enter into force until two years after the CITES meeting, rather than the standard ninety days. Brazil and Bolivia also adopted delayed implementation as a fallback position after their initial opposition to the listings of Dipteryx spp. and Handroanthus spp., Tabebuia spp., and Roseodendron spp. These listings proposals were eventually adopted with a two year delay in implementation.
Delayed implementation of the recent CITES decisions provides a window of opportunity and incentive for companies to harvest and export or stockpile timber before the future sustainability and legality requirements come into effect. And, it may in fact lead to increased illegal logging and overharvesting and push the species closer to extinction — the exact opposite of what a CITES listing is intended to do.
While we applaud the inclusion of more than 150 tree species in CITES Appendix II as an important step, we know there are many more steps needed to ensure the survival of trees and forests. In particular, support for implementation from importing countries to countries where these trees grow is essential, including for practices such as non-detriment findings — a science-based assessment to ensure exports are not detrimental to the survival of a species — and legal acquisition findings.
Looking Ahead
CITES CoP19 took place at a crucial moment. This year has seen several significant scientific reports that have highlighted the need to halt and reverse biodiversity loss to ensure the survival of our planet and humanity. Doing so requires addressing the three main threats to wild plants: habitat loss, climate change, and overexploitation.
We hope that the decisions made in Panama will serve as a valuable tool in confronting these threats and can pave the way for the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD CoP15), which is now taking place in Montreal. That meeting is expected to establish a Framework to address global biodiversity loss, in concert with CITES and several other multilateral environmental agreements. One CBD milestone under negotiation relates to reducing species extinction, and direct exploitation of species is the second largest driver of terrestrial species loss. Therefore, the recent decisions at CITES can play a key role in halting extinctions.