Bryan Christy

In Doha, CITES Secretary-General bestowed the prestigious Clark R. Bavin Award upon US Fish & Wildlife Service investigators and Justice Department prosecutors for Operation Central, the sea turtle trafficking case out of Mexico.  DOJ Environmental Crimes Prosecutors Robert S. Anderson and Colin Black prosecuted along with AUSA Linda McMahan.  USFWS SA George Morrison (of Operation Chameleon-fame, like prosecutor Anderson) ran the investigation as one of his final efforts as head of the branch of Special Operations.

Tomorrow in Doha, Qatar wildlife officials from around the world, NGO’s and others begin COP15, two weeks of what amounts to the Olympics of wildlife policymaking.  It is the 15th CITES Conference of the Parties.  Here policy will be set on a range of wildlife.  Some key wildlife issues include bluefin tuna trade and prospect of elephant ivory sales. 

One interesting new subject is a joint proposal by the US and China on the massive Asian Snake trade.  Here is the joint US-China proposal, which includes some surprising insights.

The following story was reported today by Malaysia’s Hilary Chiew in The Star…. 

(To be seen is whether this is a meaningful reform or simply a shuffling of chairs .  One sign will no doubt be the result of the corruption investigation report referred to in the story.  Will it be an “Old Story” or a new one?)

 Jan 24, 2010, The Star

Minister to chair special wildlife permit panel

By HILARY CHIEW

PETALING JAYA: The issuing of special permits for totally protected species will now be decided at the ministry level following complaints of mismanagement and corruption at the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

Natural Resources and Environ­ment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas, who said this, added that he had taken over the special permit committee chairmanship from the Perhilitan director-general.

“Previously, special permits were vetted by Perhilitan and referred to the minister for the signature. From now, I will chair the committee with guidance from top officials in the ministry and the legal officer.

“We realised that we need another body to cross-check what’s happening on the ground. This is a new approach … We will include the views of non-governmental organisations to improve the system,” he told The Star. (more…)