Geneva, 31 January 2022 – The CITES Secretariat has released a mobile phone and tablet application to provide further guidance for Parties and other relevant agencies when assessing facilities that breed and/or ranch CITES-listed specimens.
Dubbed CapaCITES, the app aims to evaluate the capacity of facilities to produce the numbers of specimens being reported as traded each year. The app also assists users in correctly applying source codes to the permits required to trade in CITES-listed species.
The CITES Secretariat partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to develop the CapaCITES app, with funding from the European Union and Switzerland. It is available in 10 languages: English, French, Spanish, Thai, Mandarin, Khmer, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malay, and Laotian.
The app can be downloaded for free from the Apple Store (for Apple devices) and Google Play Store (for android devices).
To download the app from the Apple Store, click here
> https://apps.apple.com/au/app/cites/id1557609298 <
To download the app from Google Play Store, click here
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.epicbio.cites <
The development of CapaCITES is the latest effort by the CITES Secretariat to support Parties concerning inspections of captive-breeding operations and on the application of CITES source codes for exports of listed species. The Secretariat previously published two guidance documents: one titled ‘Guidance for the inspection of captive breeding and ranching facilities’, and the second ‘A guide to the application of CITES source codes’.
Source codes are an information tool used in CITES permits and certificates that serve to indicate the origin or source of the CITES-listed specimen that is being traded. Among others, they indicate whether specimens are taken from wild (source code “W”), ranched (source code “R”), bred in captivity (source code “C”) or, in the case of plant species, if they are artificially propagated (source code “A”).
CITES Secretary-General Ivonne Higuero welcomed the launch of the app stating that: “The CapaCITES app is a meaningful step towards the modernization of CITES and a welcome development that will make CITES processes more accessible to a wider range of users, thus contributing to the effective implementation of the Convention. It tackles key issues of the CITES mandate and seeks to enhance transparency of trade. Thanks to our partners at IUCN for their work in developing and helping us deploy this new and valuable tool and to the European Union and Switzerland for their financial support”.
Dr. Richard Jenkins, Deputy Director of IUCN’s Global Species Programme said: “The App is a living resource. The digital format of this tool allows the system to be updated regularly as CITES evolves and feedback mechanisms within the App will allow CITES to adapt the App to the needs of Parties over time without the need to issue multiple printed documentation. IUCN was pleased to use its expertise in sustainable use and our knowledge of species to develop the App with the CITES Secretariat.”
For more information, contact:
Sofie H. Flensborg at [email protected]
