Minister of Environment and Climate Change H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie (third left) with other officials at the workshop.
Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) is organising a national training workshop on the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) agreement and combating illegal wildlife trade, in cooperation with the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Doha. The five-day event, which began yesterday, will last until March 7.
Minister of Environment and Climate Change H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie attended the opening ceremony of the workshop yesterday.
The workshop aims to raise the level of national skills and competencies of those working in the implementation of the CITES agreement, and exchange best practices for implementing this agreement.
This is in addition to introducing the most endangered fungal species that are exposed to international trade, with the aim of increasing awareness and ensuring their protection and preservation.
Addressing the event, Director of the Wildlife Development Department Mohammed Al Khanji stressed the need to regulate international trade in wildlife species, whether animal or plant, and their products, which include more than 35,000 plant and animal species.
He said this is the goal sought by the CITES agreement, in addition to reducing smuggling and combating illegal trade across international borders.
Al Khanji noted Qatar, in order to adhere to the agreement that it signed in 2001, has established procedures to regulate the import, export or re-export of endangered species and their products.
He said a unit has been set up to monitor the import, export or transit of endangered species across Qatar, in addition to applying ownership certificates for falcons (a falcon transit document) with the aim of facilitating the movement of falcons across international borders, and establishing a database of falcon owners.
Regarding the steps that the MoECC will take within the framework of its commitment to the CITES agreement, Al Khanji stressed the Ministry’s intention to completely convert the services related to the agreement to electronic during this year.
He said that the Ministry is working to prepare and establish procedures related to regulating trade with the aim of preserving imported endangered species, as well as establishing a unit to monitor markets and shops.
Al Khanji said this is in addition to establishing a unit to register farms containing endangered species, pointing to cooperation with the Cybercrime Department of the Ministry of Interior, and the Customs Smuggling Department of the General Authority of Customs, to monitor and control trade in endangered species published on websites.
Director of the Regional Office of the International Fund for Animal Welfare Dr. Akram Issa Darwish praised the efforts of Qatar to protect endangered animals noting that organizing this workshop is a highly positive indicator of the interest of the State of Qatar in this regard.
