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DE RUEHAR #0114 0361141
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P 051141Z FEB 10 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8870
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS ACCRA 000114 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W AND OES/ENRC/LLOYD GAMBLE 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TBIO CITES GH
SUBJECT: GHANA OK WITH U.S. CITES PROPOSALS 
 
REFS:  STATE 6668 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE PROTECT 
ACCORDINGLY.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Ghana will support the U.S. priority proposals 
for the March 2010 CITES Meeting on sharks, corals and polar bears, 
but feels that U.S. proposals on bobcats require support from the 
European states, to avoid confusion with other lynx species.  Ghana, 
along with several other African states, strongly opposes the 
Tanzanian and Zambian proposals to reduce the level of protection 
afforded to African elephants and to permit legalized sales of 
elephant ivory.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) Per reftel request, we shared the U.S. proposals for the 
March 2010 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) with Nana Kofi 
Adu-Nsiah, Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of Ghana's 
Forestry Commission.  Mr. Adu-Nsiah will lead Ghana's delegation to 
the CITES meeting. 
 
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Ghana Supports Most U.S. Proposals 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Mr. Adu-Nsiah said that Ghana would be able to support the 
U.S. proposals on sharks, corals and polar bears.  However, he noted 
that the U.S. proposal to reduce the level of protection afforded to 
bobcats would require support from European states, because of the 
look-alike and identification problems with other species of lynx 
prevalent in Europe. 
 
¶4. (SBU) He also said that Ghana fully supported and was very 
interested in the joint U.S.-China discussion document regarding 
snake conservation and international trade in snakes.  He noted that 
commercial snake farming was becoming increasingly popular in Ghana, 
and the country was now a significant exporter of snakes, especially 
live pythons to European and North American markets.  Given the 
growth in snake farming and exports of live snakes, the GOG was 
beginning to examine how snakes are handled prior to export, 
appropriate quarantine procedures, and the issue of inspecting snake 
farms. 
 
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Ghana Opposed to Controlled Elephant Ivory Sales 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Mr. Adu-Nsiah noted that African elephant conservation 
would be the greatest concern of the sub-Saharan African states at 
the CITES meeting.  Many African states, including Ghana, were 
opposed to proposals from Tanzania and Zambia to "downlist" African 
elephants from CITES Appendix I to Appendix II, which would pave the 
way for legalized and controlled sales of elephant ivory. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In his view, Tanzania and Zambia were violating an 
agreement reached at the 14th Conference of the Parties to CITES to 
observe a moratorium on any changes to the treatment of African 
elephants until 2018.  In response to the Tanzanian and Zambian 
proposals, a coalition of 23 African elephant range states 
(including Ghana) had submitted a counter-proposal to the CITES 
Secretariat asking that there be no changes in the treatment of 
elephants for the next 20 years.  He explained that the coalition 
countries were deeply concerned that any legalized sales of elephant 
ivory would encourage poaching and put tremendous pressure on many 
of the smaller wild elephant populations in West, Central and 
Eastern Africa.  There had been a spike in poaching during the last 
period of legalized elephant ivory sales, he noted. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Mr. Adu-Nsiah made clear that the coalition was willing to 
withdraw its proposal for an extended moratorium, in the event that 
Tanzania and Zambia withdrew their proposals to downlist elephants, 
and return to a moratorium that would expire in 2018.  He also 
stated that delegates from the coalition states had visited Brussels 
during the last week of January 2010 in order to enlist EU support 
for their position.  However, it was not yet clear whether the EU 
would support the coalition's position, that of Tanzania and Zambia, 
or remain neutral. 
 
¶8. (SBU) He understood that the U.S. would not be taking a position 
until after a CITES panel of experts had issued an opinion regarding 
the various African elephant proposals, and until after the African 
states had met to try and reach a consensus or compromise on the 
issue. 
 
TEITELBAUM