At 05:52 PM 12/21/99 +1100, Irene wrote:
>Presumably he wouldn't be so bold if he was breaking any laws or
>international treaties, but would it be worth it to refer this to BirdQuest,
>Jamba/Camba, WWF or whoever is a "regulator" of bird/wildlife protection
>treaties?
>
>Irene Denton
The trade in the nests of various species of edible-nest swiftlet is, as
has been pointed out, very extensive in south-east Asia and appears to be
managed with varying degrees of sustainability. In 1994, a proposal to
list swiftlets on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) was withdrawn in favour of a scheme to institute
a series of management conferences among the range states to come up with
ways to improve swiftlet management. To my recollection (I am not at home
so I cannot check the details) two such conferences were held, and
according to a report made at the CITES Animals Committee meeting in
Madagascar earlier this year considerable progress has been made on
improvements, but some recent news stories imply that swiftlet populations
are still being affected in some areas. I suspect it makes a difference as
to whether we are talking about nest collection from natural caves or in
areas where people have set up swiftlet "farms" using artificial nest sites.
Anyway, at the moment I am not aware of any international treaty that would
make it illegal to sell swiftlet nests in international trade.
Ronald I. Orenstein Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2
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