Species Convention: Germany under surveillance – Science

Geneva (dpa) – Germany is under surveillance for possible violations of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Representatives of the contracting states decided on Tuesday in Geneva that the CITES Secretariat would hold talks with Germany on the import and export of controversial rare bird species. In addition, the Committee of States Parties found for the first time that the EU is not adequately implementing parts of the Endangered Species Convention.

In 2018, the endangered parrot species was exported to Germany at the request of the Caribbean country of Dominica after a devastating hurricane. A breeding program has been established there to conserve this species. Germany decided to take this step under this emergency, 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 admitted that Germany had failed to coordinate with Brazil to export Spix’s parrots to a breeding station in India as planned. The bird species was once native to Brazil but is now extinct in the wild.