Muriel Conan ENVA 18-10-04
CITES meeting will determine
future for many species
1) Prepare before listening.
a) Quels champs lexicaux puis
mots de vocabulaire pensez-vous trouver dans le document ?
b) Les mots suivants sont
tirés du document, connaissez-vous leur traduction ?
- Espèces en voie de disparition, menacé, commerce, représentant, accord, produits dérivés, ivoire, corne, chasse à la baleine, braconnage, contrebandier
2) Listen to the document.
Listen as often as you need : take notes about
general ideas and then details that seem relevant to you.
3) Test how much you
remember.
You shouldn’t be listening anymore at
this stage.
4) Store the vocabulary.
5) Read
more. Cites’ website
Espèces en voie de disparition : endangered species
Menacé : threatened
Commerce : trade
Représentant : delegate
Accord : agreement
produits dérivés : by-product
ivoire : ivory
corne : horn
chasse à la baleine : whaling
braconnage : poaching
contrebandier : smuggler
script/
CITES Meeting Will Determine
Future for Many Species
Scott Bobb
Bangkok
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The future of some of the world's most exotic animals, such as the
elephant, lion, whale and dolphin, is coming under focus as delegates gather in
Since it
came into being nearly 30 years ago, it is has helped preserve scores of endangered
species of animals and plants by restricting international trade in them and
their by-products.
During the
two-week CITES meeting in the Thai capital, delegates will debate tightening
trade restrictions on dozens of species. Hundreds of trade lobbyists are also
participating, adding to the debate.
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US National Zoo photo |
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Ronald
Ornestein, a member of Humane Society International and an expert on the CITES
treaty, says that because governments answer to a variety of constituencies,
politics plays a big role in the convention.
"The
most important thing that we will be looking for is the overall pattern,
whether or not this is going to be a trend toward better and better protection
for wildlife, or whether the forces who are trying to have more and more trade
will seize the high ground," he said.
One of the
most heated debates is expected to be over whaling.
The
15-year-old ban on the ivory trade also is expected to come under fire.
But
conservationists such as Shelley Petch of the Born Free Foundation oppose the
proposal. She said, "Between 1979 and 1989 the African elephant population
declined by 50 percent from 1.3 million to around 600 thousand and declined
almost entirely as a result of illegal poaching for ivory."
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US National Zoo photo |
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Ms. Petch
says that despite the ban, 95 tons of ivory were seized in the past five years,
representing the deaths of 15,000 elephants.
East and
West African nations, where elephant populations remain dangerously low, want
to maintain the complete ban. They argue that allowing even limited ivory sales
will provide a market that will encourage poaching everywhere.
Among the
new species being proposed for protection is the great white shark, which has
reportedly declined by up to 50 percent.
Another is
the humphead wrasse, a large coral reef fish that is a delicacy in
Linda Paul
of the Earthtrust Foundation notes that the humphead wrasse fetches $180 a
kilogram but its market, of about $180 million, is small.
"This
fish is far more valuable to countries such as
The
CITES
expert professor Ornestein acknowledges that it is difficult to control trade
in exotic species as long as the demand for them continues among wealthy
populations.
"There
are two ways to deal with that and they are difficult, no question," he
said. "One is public education. Another is providing alternatives."
He notes
that education campaigns in Western countries virtually eliminated demand for
ivory 10 years ago. And he says that efforts are under way in
Professor
Ornestein says that restricting trade in exotic species also encourages the
people living with the animals and plants to use them for something else, such
as ecotourism. And it eliminates the profits of smugglers and middlemen, who
make the bulk of the money from the trade.