Germany is under surveillance because of possible violations of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Endangered Species (Cites). Representatives of the contracting states decided on Tuesday in Geneva that the Cites Secretariat should hold talks with Germany about the controversial import and export of rare bird species. In addition, the Committee of States Parties found for the first time that the European Union is inadequately implementing parts of the Endangered Species Agreement.
In 2018, parrot species threatened with extinction were exported to Germany at the request of the Caribbean state of Dominica after a devastating hurricane. A breeding program was set up there to preserve the species. Germany decided to take this step in this emergency situation, even though trade in protected species from Dominica was not permitted at the time, a representative of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation told the committee. He also acknowledged that Germany had failed to coordinate with Brazil the export of Spix’s macaws for a breeding station in India as planned. The bird species was once native to Brazil and is now extinct in the wild.
“We very much welcome the result,” said Daniela Freyer from the Pro Wildlife organization in Munich after the Cites meeting. “It’s about Germany having to explain itself,” she said.
In the opinion of the Cites Committee, breeding animals of endangered species are only inadequately documented in the EU. In addition, commercial breeding operations for exotic birds and reptiles have not yet been registered in the EU, the committee noted.
