Saturday, Jul 12, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: The illegal animal trade is being fought in Arabic with translated manuals being distributed to customs officials to help them identify endangered or banned species.
Emirates Wildlife Society - WWF and the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi have been putting the leaflets together over the last three years as part of a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) project.
These manuals are devised to help Arabic-speaking government officials and custom agents identify species in order to tackle the illegal trade of wildlife in the UAE.
The Arabic manuals should help ease the implementation of the CITES convention.
"Together with our partners, we will do everything within our power to ensure that the relevant UAE authorities and customs agents are fully aware and equipped to help us in the fight against illegal trade. Translating these identification manuals is a step in the right direction," said Majid Ali Al Mansouri, Secretary-General of EAD.
The UAE CITES project, which began in 2002, has helped UAE customs authorities succeed in capturing a wide variety of illegal specimens, such as shahtoosh shawls, ivory, live primates and wild cats.
Workshop
The global wildlife trade is estimated to be worth more than $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) annually and includes hundreds of millions of plant and animal specimen from tens of thousands of species.
In addition to the development of the CITES manuals, EWS-WWF and the CITES Secretariat organised a series of 'Train-the Trainer' workshops for key government officials from the Ministry of Environment and Water, Municipalities, Customs and environmental agencies. Participants were trained on how to use the manuals.
Previously the International Foundation for Animal Welfare also held workshops in Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Hatta and Dubai with customs officials to help them recognise particular species.
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
