“The United States will support strong conservation measures and international trade protections for tigers, elephants and whales at the upcoming 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 3 to 15.” – Environment News Service

“European polls have shown massive support for a 20-year moratorium on trade in ivory just ahead of next month?s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Holland.” – Citizen.co.za

“SADC countries are proposing the reopening of ivory trade to countries certified as trading partners by the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (Cites). But a conservation group warned this week that the region does not have its own house in order, as domestic sales of ivory continue to thrive.” – Mail & Guardian Online

“Environmentalists are readying themselves for another heated round of debate and horse-trading in the continuing international tussle over the issue of ivory sales. ” – IPS

“From June 3 to 15, more than a thousand delegates from 171 countries will convene in The Hague to determine the fate of 40 animal and plant species at risk of over-exploitation due to international trade.” – Environment News Service

“A conference on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) will be held in The Hague, Netherlands, from 3 ? 15 June this year. But the conference is expected to disclose Southern Africa?s untold elephant story.” – afrol News

“The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) placed the African elephant on its most critically endangered list, Appendix I, in 1989. The ban led to more aggressive anti-poaching campaigns and increased investment in wildlife protection, and set African elephants on the road to recovery. But a new study from Stephen Blake, Samantha Strindberg, Fiona Maisels, and colleagues warns that while savannah elephants may indeed be rebounding?in part because they live in countries with long histories of wildlife management, where protection is facilitated by open plains habitats and usually good infrastructure?their forest relatives, hidden in the Congo Basin rainforests, still face intense poaching pressure.” – EurekAlert!

“The growing trade in ivory is fuelling an alarming rise in elephant poaching which could undermine attempts to save the world’s largest land animal from extinction.” – IOL

“Changes in the rules for international trade in elephant ivory, gazelles, leopards, sharks, eels, pink coral, rosewood, and cedar are just a few of the 40 new government proposals that will be decided at an upcoming meeting of the Parties to the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES.” – Environment News Service

“Hunting bans could do more harm than good when it comes to the long-term survival of vulnerable species such as African elephants, argues Eugene Lapointe. In this week’s Green Room, the former head of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) makes the case for hunting and why it can be a part of wildlife management policies.” – BBC NEWS

“Considering the recent attacks by wild elephants in the Chandgad district of Kolhapur, the chief ministers and forest ministers of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka are scheduled to meet in Delhi on February 15. A committee under the chairmanship of State revenue minister Narayan Rane will also review crop damage compensation rates. At present, it is a paltry Rs 20 for crops on one guntha of land.” – Cites Express India

“Botswana has to wait for the next conference of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2007 to know whether it will be allowed to sell its ivory stockpiles. ” – Mmegi Online

“The Convention of Illegal Trading of Endangered Species (Cites) Conference of Parties (CoP) meet in Bangkok, that ended on October 14, has made the MoEF mandarins worry over India’s 26000 plus elephants. ” – The Times of India

“Botswana’s sale of about 20 tonnes of ivory sanctioned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has been suspended because some countries have failed to meet one of the preconditions.” – Latest News – Republic of Botswana

“Delegates met in Committees throughout the day. Committee I considered elephant and ivory issues, while Committee II considered, inter alia, commercial trade in Appendix I species, annual export quotas, source codes, production systems and great apes.” – Earth Negotiations Bulletin

“Zimbabwe, with an elephant population of almost three times its carrying capacity, will back South Africa and Namibia’s proposals for resumption of limited sales of ivory at the next Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), officials said here Monday.” – Xinhuanet

“President Robert Mugabe’s cronies have apparently inflated Zimbabwe’s elephant population to dupe the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (Cites) into allowing Harare to continue trading in ivory.” – IOL: SADC

“On elephants, the SC decided that the CITES Secretariat will receive information on rates of illegal hunting of elephants and trade in elephant specimens from existing systems monitoring the illegal killing of elephants and trade in elephant specimens, and will work with the Parties that report an increase in illegal hunting or trade to establish the potential linkage to commercial trade in raw ivory. If the SC concludes there has been an increase in illegal hunting or trade, it will recommend that international trade in all specimens regarding the elephant populations of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa be halted and will request that all Appendix II populations of the species be transferred to Appendix I. ” – Earth Negotiations Bulletin