11th CITES European Regional Plants Meeting held at UCD

Not many people have a job spec that includes “everything from snowdrops to elephants”. But (opens in a new window)Dr Noeleen Smyth’s role involves advising on and risk assessing the sustainability of “wild products” entering and leaving the country.

A lecturer in horticulture at the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, she is also the National Scientific Authority for Ireland for (opens in a new window)CITES(the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). This is an international agreement between governments to help protect wild animals and plants from over-exploitation due to international trade.

“30,000 things are listed - everything from elephants to snowdrops,” Noeleen said, when we spoke at the 11th CITES European Plants Meeting in UCD this morning. “If any of them move country, you have to make sure, if they're in trade, that they're coming from a sustainable source. Elephants are all protected under Appendix One, and that means you can't trade; the only trade has to be for conservation. Most things are in Appendix Two and trade is allowed if you do a risk assessment to prove they are coming from a sustainable source.”

On Friday, Noeleen spoke in UCD about visiting Turkish farms producing sustainable snowdrops, with her counterparts from Finland (André Van Proosdij) and the Netherlands (Barbara Soto Largo Merono).

The events opening remarks were made by UCD's Vice-President for Sustainability, Professor Tasman Crowe and event was launched byChristopher O’SullivanTD, Minister for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity.

The four main areas for discussion on the first day were under the headings of "CITES and sustainability in action", "Priorities and challenges in the European Region", "Timber Issues, sustainability" and closing out with a fascinating session on "Musical Instruments and CITES". This will look at how many guitars made using protected rosewood and our own uilleann pipes often containing African blackwood and ivory. Mario Sterz & Tessa Schardt will discuss the German approach to implementing registration of pre-convention stocks and establishing of a voluntary registration system for finished bows. 

Congratulations to (opens in a new window)UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science (opens in a new window)Dr Noeleen Smyth and all the organising committee on this years event.