Peregrine falcon stays on CITES’ top protection list after Iran blocks bid to ease curbs
Iran said that delegates at the CITES summit in Samarkand rejected a joint US-Canadian proposal that would have downgraded the peregrine falcon from Annex I to Annex II, a move that could have opened the door to legal trade in the prized raptor.
The 20th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, hosted by Uzbekistan from November 24 to December 5, voted down the motion after Iran rallied support from Russia, several African states and European members, according to the country’s CITES scientific authority, Asghar Mobaraki, IRNA reported.
Mobaraki told IRNA that Washington and Ottawa had drafted the proposal with firm backing from “Arab countries, and even China”.
Approval, he said, would have “seriously threatened” the future of the falcon at a time when Iran is already grappling with organized smuggling. Keeping the bird in Annex I maintains the strictest ban on commercial trade.
He said sustained lobbying on the sidelines of the summit was crucial. Backed by the head of Iran’s environment department and a full technical team, Tehran sought to drum up negative votes in what he described as an “unmatched” diplomatic push.
The delegation argued that easing restrictions would incentivize illicit trapping across West and Central Asia, where prices for trained falcons can surge on the black market.
Mobaraki warned that the matter may resurface at the next CITES COP in four years and urged stronger field enforcement at home to clamp down on trafficking networks.
He said authorities must tighten checks and improve habitat protection if Iran is to fend off renewed attempts to loosen global safeguards.
Separately, the summit agreed to list the marsh frog Pelophylax ridibundus in Annex II, following concern over shrinking wetlands, climate-driven habitat stress and unregulated harvesting.
Mobaraki noted that the species had not previously appeared in any CITES annex. Three related species in the same genus were also cleared for inclusion in Annex II in a bid to head off further population declines.