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Conservation, sustainable use of and trade in snakes

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Table of Contents

  1. Preamble

Conservation, sustainable use of and trade in snakes

AWARE that certain species of snakes are successfully bred in captivity, collected from the wild and traded in high numbers in and outside range States, inter alia to supply the demand for use as food, skins, traditional medicine, and for the pet trade;AWARE that the harvesting of snakes and, in the case of some species, the initial processing of their skins and other body parts, is of economic importance and contributes important revenue to local communities;ACKNOWLEDGING that unregulated or unsustainable trade in snakes can pose significant threats to wild populations, and that international cooperation is needed to address these threats urgently;OBSERVING that the collection of snakes is carried out through an extensive informal network of trappers, hunters and middlemen, and that collection efforts and trade volumes are considerable, especially in Asia;ACKNOWLEDGING Resolution Conf. 10.16 (Rev.) on Specimens of animal species bred in captivity;ACKNOWLEDGING Resolution Conf. 12.10 (Rev. CoP15) on the Registration of operations that breed Appendix‑I animal species in captivity for commercial purposes;NOTING Resolution Conf. 14.7 (Rev. CoP15) on Management of nationally established export quotas; andNOTING Resolution Conf. 16.7 (Rev. CoP17) on Non-detriment findings and its concepts and non-binding guiding principles in considering whether trade would be detrimental to the survival of a species;
The Conference of the Parties to the Convention

Regarding non-detriment findings (NDFs)

1.ENCOURAGES range States that wish to export species of snakes listed in Appendix II to make use of available guidance, in particular the results of the Cancun workshop on NDFs in 2008, for making non-detriment findings for trade in snakes of wild origin, and guidance on other species as appropriate;
2.ENCOURAGES ALSO Parties and stakeholders in snake conservation, sustainable use and trade to share their experiences and lessons learned with regard to making NDFs; and
3.URGES Parties and the Secretariat to use the general NDF guidance contained in Resolution Conf. 16.7 (Rev. CoP17) and any further guidance recommended by the Animals and Standing Committees in capacity-building workshops and relevant training materials;

Regarding management of wild snake populations

4.ENCOURAGES Parties to establish national harvest, trade and management policies for snake species;
5.INVITES Parties to identify those snake species that are impacted by international trade and, where appropriate, propose possible CITES listings and implement national management strategies, including establishment of export and harvest quotas, size or season restrictions, among others, to further the conservation of the species concerned;
6.ENCOURAGES all Parties to explore ways to enhance the participation of the private sector in the conservation of and sustainable use of and trade in snake species; and
7.ENCOURAGES Parties and stakeholders to increase public awareness of the ecosystem services provided by snakes, of the benefits and consequences of non-detrimental and legal trade and the threats to the survival of the species in the wild and livelihoods posed by illegal trade in snakes and their parts and derivatives;

Regarding monitoring and trade controls

8.ENCOURAGES Parties to use guidance developed for monitoring wild populations and controlling captive-breeding operations and other production systems; and to share their experiences and lessons learned in the use of such guidance;
9.ENCOURAGES range States to apply methodologies for differentiating wild and captive-bred specimens of CITES-listed snake species in trade;
10.URGES Parties with trade in live snakes and/or their parts and derivatives to enhance and increase regulation and enforcement with regard to existing legislation as a matter of urgency;
11.RECOMMENDS that Parties engaged in the snake trade verify the origin of specimens traded and ensure the appropriate use of source codes;
12.URGES Parties to eliminate the important illegal and unreported trade in specimens, whether live or parts and derivatives, of CITES-listed snake species by:
a)ensuring that CITES permits and certificates are properly issued for trade in these specimens;
b)including information on trade in these specimens in their CITES annual reports;
c)ensuring that their annual reports are following the most recent version of the Guidelines for the preparation and submission of CITES annual reports, in compliance with Resolution Conf. 11.17 (Rev. CoP18) on National reports11Corrected by the Secretariat following the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties
d)examining their enforcement efforts regarding trade in these specimens to ensure that adequate steps are taken to deter and detect illegal and unreported trade; and
e)undertaking education and outreach activities directed towards snake farms, buyers and sellers of live snakes, parts and derivatives, product manufacturers, shippers, brokers and staff from government agencies involved in controlling and monitoring this trade to ensure that snake specimens are traded in compliance with national laws and CITES provisions;
13.URGES Parties to enhance cooperation among wildlife law enforcement agencies at national and international levels concerning control of trade in snakes, and between enforcement agencies and national CITES authorities;
14.ENCOURAGES Parties to test, and consider the introduction of innovative traceability and enforcement methods in range and consumer States and, as a matter of priority, to strengthen enforcement efforts;
15.URGES Parties that have snake captive-breeding or ranching facilities in their territories to engage in regular monitoring of such facilities, taking into account the origin of parental stock and whether they were obtained legally and without detriment to wild populations, as well as the practicality and capacity of producing the offspring claimed and, for those facilities that breed Appendix I species, to register those facilities with the CITES Secretariat in accordance with Resolution Conf. 12.10 (Rev. CoP15); and
16.ENCOURAGES Parties to pursue the development and dissemination of forensic methods to assist Parties in the identification of snake parts and derivatives, and for examination of products labelled as containing parts and derivatives of snakes;

Regarding traceability systems for snake skins

17.ENCOURAGES Parties to take into account lessons learned from projects on traceability implemented for other CITES-listed species;
18.ENCOURAGES Parties to share experiences in the use of traceability systems for specimens of CITES-listed snake species, including the use of identification technologies;
19.RECOMMENDS:
a)that Parties, prior to the implementation of a traceability system for python skins, inventory and tag those skins and provide this information to the Secretariat as a baseline;
b)that Parties ensure that the tagging method used distinguishes between skins of the initial stockpiles and skins harvested at later points in time;
c)that Parties ensure that the inventories of the initial stockpiles contain information on the species concerned, the stage of processing of the skins (crust, dried, etc.) and the corresponding quantities and tag numbers, and also the year of harvest for skins newly entering the stockpiles;
d)the traceability systems commence as close to the point of harvest of the animal or production of the skin as possible. It should be made mandatory up to and including finished skins;
e)the identification of skins make use of devices that are tamper-proof, affordable, uniquely serially numbered and contain the following minimum information: species, country of origin (where relevant regional code), year of harvest or production, unique serial number, and source code, or technologies that may accomplish the same requirements. In addition, Parties are encouraged to add other information they deem necessary; and
f)the Secretariat should compile such information on available identification technologies and projects to make them available to Parties;
20.CALLS UPON governments and intergovernmental organizations, international aid agencies, non-governmental organizations, the industry and other donors to provide financial support and other assistance to implement this Resolution; and
21.ENCOURAGES Parties to engage in the development of traceability systems and to explore ways to enhance the participation of the private sector and other stakeholders in this process.