PC14 Doc. 9.2.2 – p. 77 PC14 Doc. 9.2.2 Annex 3 Review of Significant Trade

Afromosia Pericopsis elata is a timber-producing species native to countries of west and central Africa occurring in the Guinean Equatorial forests. It has a disjunct distribution with several isolated sub-populations occurring in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana; Central African Republic (CAR), eastern Cameroon and Congo; and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Details of the ecology of the species remain poorly known. Pericopsis elata is currently classified as Endangered by IUCN. Declines as a result of logging in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria have been marked since international trade began 50 years ago. Significant stocks do however remain in Cameroon, Congo and DRC where the forests are more extensive and logging of this species has been more recent. Legislative and administrative procedures are in place to manage the forests in the countries where Pericopsis elata occurs but problems of implementation and enforcement remain. The extent to which general forestry provisions are used to fulfill CITES Article IV requirements of CITES remains unclear. The development of clear procedures for making CITES non-detriment findings in compliance with Article IV remains a priority in the main countries of export. The establishment of a national export quota for each exporting country based on information on the distributional range of the species combined with information on the abundance or stocks of the species in different areas would be one approach. Such a quota would mean that the country concerned had determined that the export of a certain amount of specimens per year would not be detrimental to the survival of the species. Under such circumstances, the Management Authority would not need to consult the Scientific Authority for each export, although it should have consulted the Scientific Authority before it established an export quota. The development of monitoring procedures in accordance with Article IV, paragraph 3 also remains a priority in the main countries of export. Based on a short review of available information the following provisional categorization is given for Pericopsis elata in accordance with paragraph i) of Resolution Conf. 12.8