Secretary-General of CITES visits venue for CoP17

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Danette Breitenbach

The Secretary-General of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), John E. Scanlon, recently met with the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, to discuss preparations for the 17th Conference of Parties to CITES (CITES CoP17) to be held in Johannesburg in 2016.

Johannesburg was announced as the host city for CITES CoP17 by the CITES Secretariat and the Department of Environmental Affairs on 19 June 2015. The Sandton Convention Centre is the chosen venue for the world wildlife conference.

Scanlon and Molewa conducted an inspection of the Sandton Convention Centre to appraise themselves of the suitability of the venue to host the more than 2,000 delegates scheduled to attend CITES CoP17.

Rich debate expected

This will be the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES held on the African continent since CITES came into force on 1 July 1975, but the first on the continent since 2000.

"This is the place to be on 24 September 2016. There are many items on the agenda and we look forward to a rich debate where countries are expected to make decisions on a way forward on matters of interest," Scanlon said.

The Minister added that the discussions at CITES CoP17 were expected to see countries debating not only the plight of the rhino, the threats being faced by the African elephant, pangolin and implementation issues such as coordination of initiatives by parties that arise from evidence-based information that is tabled for decision-making.

CITES CoP17 will be held from 24 September to 2 October 2016.