FRESHWATER TURTLES
COVERED BY CITES

Appendix IV, What is CITES?

- from “What is CITES?” at www.cites.org

 

CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

Widespread information nowadays about the endangered status of many prominent species, such as the tiger and elephants, might make the need for such a convention seem obvious. But at the time when the ideas for CITES were first formed, in the 1960s, international discussion of the regulation of wildlife trade for conservation purposes was something relatively new. With hindsight, the need for CITES is clear. Annually, international wildlife trade is estimated to be worth billions of dollars and to include hundreds of millions of plant and animal specimens. The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios and medicines. Levels of exploitation of some animal and plant species are high and the trade in them, together with other factors, such as habitat loss, is capable of heavily depleting their populations and even bringing some species close to extinction. Many wildlife species in trade are not endangered, but the existence of an agreement to ensure the sustainability of the trade is important in order to safeguard these resources for the future.

Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation. CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation. Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats, or dried herbs.

CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union). The draft was finally agreed upon at a meeting of representatives of 80 countries in Washington DC., United States of America , on 3 March 1973 , and on 1 July 1975 CITES entered in force.

CITES is an international agreement to which States (countries) adhere voluntarily. States that have agreed to be bound by the Convention ('joined' CITES) are known as Parties. Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties - in other words they have to implement the Convention - it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to make sure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

Not one species protected by CITES has become extinct as a result of trade since the Convention entered into force and, for many years, CITES has been among the largest conservation agreements in existence, with now over 150 Parties.

Freshwater Turtles Covered by CITES

Appendix I

Batagur baska

Clemmys muhlenbergi

Geoclemys hamiltoni

Kachuga (Pangshura) tecta

Melanochelys tricarinata

Morenia ocellata

Pseudemydura umbrina

Terrapene coahuila

Aspideretes ater

Aspideretes gangeticus

Aspideretes hurum

Aspideretes nigricans

Appendix II

Amyda cartilaginea +

Annamemys annamemsis *

Callagur borneoensis

Carettochelys insculpta +

Chitra species *

Clemmys insculpta

Cuora species

Dermatemys mawii

Erymnochelys madagascariensis

Heosemys depressa *

Heosemys grandis *

Heosemys leytensis *

Heosemys spinosa *

Hieremys annandalei *

Kachuga dhongoka *

Kachuga kachuga *

Kachuga (Pangshura) smithi *

Kachuga (Pangshura) sylhetensis *

Kachuga (Pangshura) tentoria *

Kachuga (Pangshura) trivitata *

Leucocephalon yuwonoi *

Lissemys punctata

Malayemys subtrijuga +

Mauremys mutica *

Notochelys platynota +

Orlitia borneensis

Pelochelys species *

Peltocephalus dumeriliana

Platysternon species *

Podocnemis species

Pyxidea mouhottii *

Siebenrockiella crassicolis *

Terrapene species

Appendix III

Pelomedusa subrufa

Pelusios adansonii

Pelusios castaneus

Pelusios gabonensis

Pelusios niger

Trionyx triunguis

* CITES approval on 12 November, 2002 .

+ CITES approval on 12 October, 2004