The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon (click here) joined one of the most important international conventions on endangered species Thursday, becoming the 178th country to do so.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will enter into force on May 26. It has been active since 1975 and regulates trade in both CITES-listed endangered species and animals or plants requested by specific countries.
An announcement from the convention’s secretariat said that 100 CITES-listed species live in Lebanon, including the red fox, jungle cat, dalmatian pelican, black stork, greater flamingo, Eurasian spoonbill, common jackal, common wolf and wild cat.
It added that CITES-listed trade with Lebanon consists mainly of raw corals, reptile skins, leather products and live plants, birds and tortoises.
Jason Mier, executive director of the nongovernmental organization Animals Lebanon, told The Daily Star the significance of Lebanon’s membership could not be downplayed.
“It’s not every day that a country joins an international convention, and as Lebanon is the 178th country to finally join, the vast majority of countries have already joined.”
Mier noted that Iraq now remains the only Middle Eastern country that has neither joined nor is in the process of joining the convention, with Bahrain now making inroads toward membership....
