Conventions and Policies
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS (2001-2005)
- Advised UK Government on over 25,000 CITES licence applications and supported inspections of 45,000 plants and over 62 tonnes of timber for HM Revenue and Customs
- Influenced national and international legislation and policy on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing through, inter alia, assistance to the UK delegation at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) negotiations
- Played a key role in supporting the UK Government and the EU Presidency in their negotiations to ensure listing of Bigleaf Mahogany and Ramin on Appendix II of CITES
- Played a key role in the formation and negotiation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) and its adoption at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
- Produced and published four CITES Checklists and three CITES User’s Guides in English, French and Spanish
- Produced and published The CBD for Botanists in English, French and Spanish
- Freely distributed over 6,000 copies in hardback and on CD-ROM of CITES Checklists, CITES User’s Guides and The CBD for Botanists to over 160 countries
- Designed and launched the intranet CBD Staff Guide to facilitate staff understanding of CBD issues and how we implement the CBD on an institutional basis
KEY ELEMENTS OF FUTURE PLANS (2006 onwards)
- Continue role as UK CITES Scientific Authority for plants
- Contribute to and support the UK Government in the negotiations related to the CBD and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
- Continue to work with Kew staff to simplify, streamline and co-ordinate internal implementation of the CBD
- Build capacity of Kew staff and partner institutions to implement the CBD
- Build capacity of policy makers to understand the role of collections in CBD implementation