Efficient monitoring of wildlife trade top priority - Bal Parsaud Control of licences is troubling issue By Andrew Richards Stabroek News July 4, 2000 The efficient monitoring of the wildlife trade in Guyana is high on the list of priorities in revamping the administration of the local industry, head of the wildlife division, Bal Parsaud, has stated. "My big worry is our capacity to monitor and to enforce the trade," Parsaud told Stabroek News in an interview recently. He said the division has already formulated new legislation according to the requirements of the Convention on International Trades in Endangered Species (CITES) of wild flora and fauna. Also, a first draft of legislation to monitor the trade internally is already out. One school of thought, Parsaud noted, is to strengthen monitoring by training a common set of personnel to look at the wildlife, forestry, mining, and environmental aspects of the hinterland since they all work in a similar environment. These wardens could enforce the regulations for the various sectors. Quotas There is the issue of quotas for the export of animals being allotted to exporters, some of whom are of the view that they are being treated in an undemocratic manner by the division. Parsaud said when the division was transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture in 1998 to the Office of the President there were 27 licensed exporters. These licencees were approved by a wildlife committee and their credibility was not questioned by the newly formed division, Parsaud said. The new division inherited a large number of applications from persons desirous of entering the trade, most of whom were interviewed. Of this set only two additional licences were granted in 1998, Parsaud pointed out. Since then no new licence was granted because it was felt at the time that the trade needed to be reassessed and structured properly. "When you examine the 29 exporters you see a pattern that boggles your mind. There are two families - one with four licences [and] one with three licences...there is some merit in some families being traditionally involved in this activity. But that was happening whilst other people were kept out," Parsaud stated. He contended that some of the families involved in the trade sponsor persons to apply for licences. The country quota for the exportation of wildlife has remained unchanged for many years. Parsaud explained that Guyana was free to set its quota and this is done by the scientific committee of the division. This quota is submitted to CITES which reviews the amount and as long as the figure is justified CITES would approve it, he said. He stressed that CITES had nothing to do with the management of the trade within a country. It is a requirement by CITES, however, that countries have in place the legislation to regulate the trade and a management authority supported by a scientific committee to administrate. Parsaud, who is also the administrative and finance director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indicated that some exporters have undertaken various means to get around the system. "What basically happens in this trade is that there are very few real exporters. I'll say there are about 7 or 8 of the people who really have markets. The rest merely sell their quota to these people," Parsaud charged. "It has been established that this practice occurs." Data It was suggested by some exporters that the national quota be increased to facilitate more exporters to be licensed and, simultaneously, ensure the trade remained economically viable. Parsaud said this point has been taken into consideration and viewed with some degree of sympathy but observed that there was no hard scientific data from which a decision could be made. There should be some criteria to which an exporter should conform before he/she is licensed, he added. "All of the CITES documentation that takes place here come in the name of the licensed exporter but really it's not them [who export]," he stated. He said taken in this context, if the additional licences are granted it would mean that the sponsor would benefit from an additional quota from which to export. "That is the reason why we decided that the [current] quota must stay [at the same amount]," he declared. There has also been the suggestion that the national quota should be increased because reputedly there is an abundance of wildlife found in Guyana. But Parsaud pointed that, again, with no scientific data base this could not be verified. The 1999 wildlife division annual report showed that there was severe under-utilisation of the quota for export except in the category for birds. A perusal of the report showed that 42 percent of the quota of mammals was exported last year. For reptiles it was 43 percent, amphibians 20 percent and arthropods 25 percent. The exports of birds represented 65 percent of the quota for last year. Surveys The government is now seeking to conduct surveys funded from the revenue collected by the division and largely supplemented by financing from the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) to establish data on Guyana's fauna. "We must know genuinely how much is the population of any animal found here," he said, stating that WWF has a strong interest in this area. Government has already signed an agreement with the organisation to fund a major part of the project. WWF has identified as one objective a priority list of animals for conservation and trade. The project will also seek to formulate management plans for the sustainable management of the trade and biodiversity programme in Guyana. This project initiative was viewed by some exporters as an attempt by the conservationists to stymie the trade. Parsaud dismissed this claim, stating that this mechanism will contribute to the efficient monitoring of the trade. Seasons He said if the survey found certain species are currently existing in low numbers then a decision could be made to curtail their export. Another mechanism in which the division ensured sustainability in the industry is to implement the closed season for the trade. This period is determined by the scientific committee which advises the management authority of the division. This is done to prevent the harvesting of animals during their mating and nesting period. Parsaud said exporters should not make the closed season an issue because the good exporter sold his/her quota in 2-3 months. He said even though the trade was closed during certain periods, it was observed that some dealers continued to conduct business on the local scene. "The open/close season is a form of locking the gate to ensure there is some kind of protection for the animals," Parsaud stated. He also voiced some concern over the end use of the animals when they are shipped abroad. According to Parsaud, most of them end up in pet shops and game parks while some are used in scientific research, but "How much are actually used in any barbaric way we don't know." He said Guyana's tendency is to be more on the conservation side in the absence of scientific data. The division head asserted that Guyana has the highest volume of wildlife trade in the Caribbean with the exception of Suriname. He noted that this country has been involved in the trade for some time without the necessary legislation in place to regulate the industry. Guyana came under scrutiny when a couple of blunders were highlighted in the handling of animals, he said. The country has been attending CITES meetings since the 1980s but no legislation was enacted. Model legislation was sent last year to the division by CITES. Two drafts were sent by Guyana to CITES which were rejected. A final draft was prepared by a Trinidadian consultant which was accepted and the legislation was gazetted. The 10th conference of parties to CITES had made the decision that seven countries including Guyana must put legislation in place. The others were from Asia and Africa. Parsaud said the new Guyana legislation was so widely accepted that it is to be adopted as the model regulations for the Caribbean. CITES has developed a regional programme for Caribbean and Latin American countries where there would be training in areas such as enforcement and monitoring. Having had the CITES trade regulations issue sorted out, the division felt there was need to have wildlife regulation for the internal management of the industry. Hunting Parsaud disclosed that the division has received reports of wanton hunting in the MMA/ADA area on the Demerara coast. He said in one case he witnessed a hunting party with twenty coolers filled with game which included wild hog and fishes for a ready market overseas. Another observation was made about a trading point for wild meat at Parika, East Bank Essequibo. Reportedly, some 300-400 slaughtered labba pass through that point monthly for export to the Caribbean and North America. The administration was not against anyone making a livelihood but the indiscriminate manner of harvesting the animals needed to be addressed, Parsaud said. Currently, in the wild meat trade persons are profiteering from the business and government received no revenue from the utilisation of the resource. "You go into Bourda Market and you'll find about 200 parrots eating each other in a cage. People are doing these things without realising how cruel they are to these animals," Parsaud said. With the implementation of the regulations, the division would be in a position to penalise offenders and, at the same time, reinforce its relationship with CITES. Parsaud said captive breeding, which is free of quotas, should be encouraged. "We think this is the way we ought to go. We must limit harvesting from the wild. A lot of African countries have gone this way," he stated. Amerindian communities Another option is to promote conservation through ecotourism. Exporters are being encouraged to consider diversification into areas such as sanctuaries and animal parks. "The potential is considerable in nature-based tourism but access could pose some problem. That way we could deliver the benefits to the Amerindian in a more direct way." He said government's position is that the Amerindian people of Guyana should be the main beneficiaries of the wildlife trade but observed that there is not one Amerindian currently involved in wildlife export. The Amerindians involved are merely trappers who supply animals to the exporters. "They are being fleeced all the time. A lot of them are owed monies," Parsaud said. He said their non-involvement in the export of wildlife could stem from the fact that their communities are remote or from their presumed lack of knowledge of the business. 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