Traditional dancers at the opening ceremony of CITES Click photo to enlarge Doha, Qatar, March 2010 - The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) formally began on 13 March, with a spectacular opening ceremony featuring traditional dancing and drums.
The assembled delegates then listened to speeches by Qatar Minister of the Environment, Abdullah bin Aaboud al-Midhad, Achim Steiner, Executive Director UNEP, and outgoing Secretary-General of CITES, Willem Wijnstekers.
A day earlier, John Scanlon had been announced as the new Secretary-General of CITES. Scanlon, an Australian national, joined UNEP in 2007 as the Principal Advisor on Policy and Programme to the Executive Director, in which capacity he also led the UNEP internal reform team.
Up to 1,500 delegates, including representatives of 175 governments, indigenous people, non-governmental organisations and businesses will be present at the two-week CITES meeting, which is being organised under the patronage of HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at Sheraton Doha.
It is the first CITES meeting to be held in the Middle East. Creating most interest on the agenda are listing proposals for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, African Elephant populations and a variety of sharks, corals, reptiles, insects and plants are top of the agenda of the 15th conference of the parties of CITES, being held for the first time in the Middle East.
On 19 March, a CAWT side event will be taking place at the Sheraton Hotel, where coalition partners and others will meet to celebrate and promote the coalition’s achievements to date. Admission is by invitation only.
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