1 Using the Appendices and the Checklist of CITES Species CITES Secretariat

2 Questions to answer How are the CITES Appendices arranged? What information is presented the Appendices? In what order are species included? How can the Checklist of CITES Species be used? What are annotations, and what information do they provide?

3 The Appendices Species subject to CITES regulation are divided amongst three Appendices I II III

4 The three Appendices (I, II and III) are included in the same document Appendices pdf or web page The Appendices are divided into two sections, Fauna and Flora How to find a species in the Appendices

5 Appendix I Appendix IIAppendix III Family and common names Species listings Annotations

6 How to find a species in the Appendices If you know more or less what you are looking for (e.g. blue corals, armadillos), the index to the Appendices can guide you

7 If you know the scientific or common name and have the Checklist of CITES Species, look in the first part (for animals) or in the second part (for plants) How to find a species in the Appendices

8 If you know the scientific or common name and have the Checklist of CITES Species, look in the first part (for animals) or in the second part (for plants) How to find a species in the Appendices

9 What if you do not have the Checklist of CITES Species?

10 How to find a species in the Appendices The Appendices contain 34,982 species of plants and animals –To make this listing more practical, a number of ‘shortcuts’ are used that allow for listing of groups of species, as appropriate –Listings can also be annotated to designate geographic coverage, types of products included or excluded, quotas, and other considerations Using the Appendices requires careful interpretation

11 Taxonomy and nomenclature To be able to read the Appendices, some knowledge of taxonomy and nomenclature is required –Taxonomy is a hierarchical classification system of uniquely identifiable organisms, reflecting the evolutionary relationship between these organisms –Nomenclature is a naming system by which names are assigned to organisms; these scientific names are usually written in Latin The CoP determines which standard nomenclature is to be used (currently the Checklist of CITES species)

12 Taxonomy The arrangement of names in the Appendices is different for animals and plants –Animals: Hierarchical by taxonomic order For example, cats are listed before mongooses, which are listed before the aardwolf –Plants : Alphabetical by Family For example, to find the plant species Picrorhiza kurrooa, you have to know to which family it belongs (Scrophulariaceae)

13 Hierarchical structure The plant or animal kingdom are subdivided into sections of ever decreasing status Class Order Family Genus Species (spp.) Sub-species (ssp.) Phylum

14 Hierarchical structure As an example, the following slides follow the taxonomic structure from the Animal Kingdom (top) to a species of crocodilian and its subspecies (bottom) Phylum Kingdom Class Order Genus Species Family Subspecies

15 Taxonomy Fauna Cnidaria (phylum) Arthropoda (phylum) Mollusca (phylum) Chordata (phylum) Annelida (phylum)

16 Taxonomy Chordata (Phylum) Reptilia (class) Amphibia (class) Pisces (class) Aves (class) Mammalia (class) Elasmobranchii (class)

17 Taxonomy Reptilia (class) Sauria (order) Serpentes (order) Testudinata (order) Crocodylia (order) Rynchocephalia (order)

18 Taxonomy Crocodylia (order) Crocodylidae (family) Gavialidae (family) Alligatoridae (family)

19 Taxonomy Alligatoridae (family) Alligator (genus) Caiman (genus) Paleosuchus (genus) Melanosuchus (genus)

20 Taxonomy Caiman (genus) Caiman latirostris (species) Caiman crocodilus (species)

21 Taxonomy Caiman crocodilus (species) Also: C.c. apaporiensis (subspecies) C.c. crocodilus (subspecies) C.c. yacare (subspecies or species) Caiman crocodilus fuscus (subspecies)

22 The Appendices Listings in the Appendices may include a whole Order or Class, and more commonly a whole Family or Genus This means that the actual species name will not appear if it is included within a higher taxonomic grouping For example, the Family Tupaiidae contains 19 species

23 Annotations Once the listing is found, you may notice symbol and number references following the listing These are annotations and are explained in the section ‘Interpretation to the Appendices’ Spp. var. # 5 Ssp. 9

24 Annotations The annotations are presented in the Appendices in three different ways –If the text is not too long and applies to one taxon only, it is immediately included after the name of the species

25 Annotations The annotations are presented in the Appendices in three different ways –If the text is not too long and applies to one taxon only, it is immediately included after the name of the species –If the text is long, or applies to a limited number of species of the same taxa, the annotation text is included as a footnote

26 Annotations The annotations are presented in the Appendices in three different ways –If the text is not too long and applies to one taxon only, it is immediately included after the name of the species –If the text is long, or applies to a limited number of species of the same taxa, the annotation text is included as a footnote –If the text concerns parts and derivatives applying to a large number of plant species, it is referenced with the symbol ‘#’ followed by a number, and the text of these annotations is included at the end of the plant listings

27 Annotation types -- Summary spp. -- all species of a higher taxon are included p. e. -- species is possibly extinct # x -- designation of parts and derivatives of plants excluded from or included in the appendices Annotations included in the text of the Appendices, or as footnotes, which relate to geographical coverage and other special conditions (e.g. annotations for Loxodonta africana and Vicugna vicugna)

28 The Appendices and the Checklist Caution The Appendices are periodically revised, and the Checklist of CITES Species is revised after every meeting of the Conference of the Parties Ensure you use the most up to date references! (the version on the CITES website is always the most up to date)

29 Summary The Appendices follow a taxonomic hierarchy for animals, and an alphabetical family listing for plants Species may be included within higher taxonomic listings (Order, Family, Genus) Listings may be annotated, which provides specific information on how the species is treated under CITES Non-specialists may find the Appendices difficult to read and interpret The Checklist of CITES Species is easier to use than the Appendices, but it is not updated as frequently

30 CITES Secretariat Geneva