The recent trade database of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has recorded 28 incidents of Red Sanders confiscation, seizure, and wild specimen being exported from India.
What is Red Sanders?
- It is a flora species that are endemic to a distinct tract of forests in the Eastern Ghats region of Andhra Pradesh.
- Geographical conditions required: It usually grows in rocky, degraded and fallow lands with Red Soil and a hot and dry climate.
- Protection Status:
- IUCN Red List:Â Endangered
- CITES:Â Appendix II
- Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972:Â Schedule IV
Key facts about the CITES
- It is an international agreement to which States and regional economic integration organizations adhere voluntarily.
- It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union). It entered into force in July 1975.
- It aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
- Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties – in other words they have to implement the Convention – it does not take the place of national laws.
- The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP and is located in Geneva, Switzerland. The Conference of the Parties to CITES is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention and comprises all its parties.