1. A note from CBCN Executive Director
2. Message from Ahmed Djoghlaf
3. Plant conservation in a changing world
4. Preparing to Launch the North American Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy
5. Biodiversity, climate change, and cultural diversity
6. The urgent need for biodiversity information
7. Adapting to a Changing World
8. The Canadian University Biodiversity Consortium and a new biodiversity center at the Montréal Botanical Garden
9. Stopping the Green Invasion! Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden Takes Aim at Invasive Alien Species
10. What's Coming Up at CITES CoP 14
11. Letter from Wuhan: A report on the Third Global Botanic Gardens Congress
12. The Montréal Botanical Garden Formally Reinforces its Commitment to Biodiversity Conservation, and hosts a Wollemi Pine
13. Meeting of the Canadian Pollination Protection Initiative
14. Summer is around the corner. Make it count!
15. First Sustainability Camp: a Success
16. Earth Day Celebration at UBC Botanical Garden

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10. What’s Coming Up at CITES CoP 14, Adrianne Sinclair, CITES Scientific Advisor for Plant Trade

The 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) will take place from June 3 to 15, 2007, in the Hague, Netherlands. The CoP meets every three years to amend the list of species regulated under the Convention in Appendices I and II. Species listed in Appendix I are endangered because of international trade and those in Appendix II could become endangered if trade is not regulated.

Sixteen scientific proposals have been submitted to amend the listings for flora. Pereskia spp., Quiabentia spp., Pereskiopsis spp., and Shortia galacifolia are proposed for deletion from Appendix II. Caesalpinia echinata, Dalbergia retusa, D. granadillo, D. stevensonii, and Cedrela spp. are proposed for inclusion in Appendix II. Deletion of Agave arizonica from Appendix I and transfer of Nolina interrata from Appendix I to II is also proposed. All other proposed amendments concern annotations, which specify the specimens of species that are included under, or exempted from, CITES control. Merging the annotations used for the Orchidaceae, Cactaceae and a variety of other plants is proposed to simplify interpretation and to exempt further specimens. Amendment of the annotations used for medicinal plants, including Panax quinquefolius and Hydrastis canadensis, is proposed to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of regulating trade in medicinal plant commodities. The annotation used for Euphorbia spp. is proposed for amendment to exempt certain morphological forms. One of the annotations used for the Orchidaceae, which is currently in two parts, is proposed to be merged and also proposed for expansion to apply certain exemptions to three additional genera (Miltonia, Odontoglossum, and Oncidium). Finally, two proposals have been submitted to amend the annotation for Taxus cuspidata, one to exempt specimens of hybrids and cultivars without specifications and the other with specifications (artificially propagated, in pots or small containers, and labelled). Deletion of the annotation to Taxus chinensis, T. fuana and T. sumatrana is also proposed.

Parties to CITES are currently developing tentative positions on the proposals and adoption of each proposal at the CoP is decided on a two-thirds majority of representatives present and voting.

For full information on CoP14 click on the Conference of the Parties link at www.cites.org.