Chinese Menus, Medicine Threatening Wildlife

Emma Graham-Harrison, PlanetArk 12 Nov 08;

BEIJING - Wild animals are climbing back onto Chinese plates after the deadly SARS virus made some diners wary, and booming demand for traditional medicine is also threatening some plants, environmentalists said on Wednesday.

Nearly half of urbanites had consumed wildlife in the past 12 months, either as food or medicine, with rich and well educated Chinese most likely to tuck into a wild snake or turtle, a survey of urbanites in six cities found.

They enjoyed eating wildlife because they saw it as "unpolluted", "special" and with extra nourishing and health powers, according to a study commissioned by Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

"This consumer demand is increasingly placing the natural environment -- both in China and abroad -- at risk through unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade," the report said.

Around half of the southern Chinese markets checked by Traffic were also selling wildlife for the pot, mostly reptiles but some birds and mammals as well. Two species for sale are on an international list of 800 critically threatened animals.

In an encouraging sign, only 3 percent of diners order the most endangered animals, but Traffic said a new approach was needed to persuade Chinese customers not to eat other wildlife.

Species endangered by their culinary and medicinal popularity in China include the pangolin, tiger and Chinese sturgeon, the report said.

"A PROBLEM FOR YOU"

An outbreak of the deadly SARS virus six years ago resulted in a local gourmet favourite -- the civet -- being banished to the black market. The racoon-like animal was blamed for spreading SARS, which infected 8,000 people globally and killed 800.

And more than half the people surveyed still worried about the threat of diseases, hinting at one possible tactic in the battle to cut sales of wildlife for the dining table.

"A 'causing a problem to you' approach (e.g. legal liability, deteriorated living environment, hazardous to one's health) instead of a 'be compassionate' approach could have a more immediate effect," the report said.

The demand for medicine could also be as destructive to natural vegetation and habitats as the quest for food, in a country where traditional medicine is widely used and has also yielded valuable compounds for use in Western treatments.

The country's total exports of traditional medicine were also worth $1.1 billion last year. Catering to this market and the demand from an expanding and increasingly wealthy domestic population is straining areas where wild plants are gathered.

Up to a fifth of medicinal plants and animals are now considered endangered, Traffic said.

But only about one third of China's traditional medicine output is from wild plants, the rest are farmed -- most with good practice.

Chinese wildlife consumption on the rise
WWF wesbite 11 Nov 08;

Beijing, China: The consumption of threatened species is on the rise in China again following a brief hiatus owing to fears surrounding the SARS virus in 2003.

A survey of five southern Chinese cities by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, found that 13 of 25 markets and 20 of 50 restaurants had wild animals for sale. A total of 56 species were found and, of these, eight are protected under Chinese law and 17 are protected under CITES, which prohibits or strictly controls international trade.

The majority of illegal wild animal trade was in freshwater turtles and snakes. In China, freshwater turtles and snakes are sold mostly for their meat and for medicinal purposes.

The findings are included in the TRAFFIC report entitled The State of Wildlife Trade in China in 2007, published today. Also found by the report is the fact that Chinese traditional medicine trade is growing rapidly and that China is the world’s second largest wood importer.

“The report examines the impact China’s consumption is having on biodiversity and what emerging trends there are in wildlife trade,” said Professor Xu Hongfa, co-ordinator of TRAFFIC’s China Programme.

The report notes that that while Russia is currently the top supplier of wood to China, Africa increasingly accounts for a growing percentage which is stimulating illegal timber trade in Africa.

“Chinese companies buying African timber must ensure the benefits of the timber trade are equitably shared, right down to the African rural communities on whose land the trees are growing,” said Professor Xu.

Chinese traditional medicine trade has grown at an annual rate of 10 per cent since 2003. Most exports ($687 million-worth) go to Asia, but Europe ($162 million) and North America ($144 million) are increasingly important markets.

Over-harvesting and poor management of resources are looming threats, and currently there are no standards to ensure the sustainable collection of wild medicinal plants.

“The trends seen in this report that show increasing demand in wildlife products and diminishing supply should be a wake-up call for law enforcement, policy makers and consumers,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme.

“We call upon Chinese authorities to enhance enforcement and public education efforts, to stop illegal trade and reduce consumption of threatened species from around the world.”

One bright spot for China is the fact that the illegal ivory trade is declining. The report found that the situation has improved since a year earlier, with surveys showing a substantial reduction in the number of outlets selling ivory illegally.

“The reduction in the illegal ivory trade is very welcome, but we urge the authorities to remain vigilant, particularly to ensure there is no laundering of illegal ivory,” said Professor Xu.

The report is the second in an annual series on emerging trends in China’s wildlife trade, and provides up-to-date reviews of work being carried out to prevent illegal and support sustainable trade in China.

Other issues examined in the report include the illegal trade in musk, the link between the sea cucumber trade to Taiwan with marine biodiversity in the Galapagos, and links between Russian salmon fisheries and Chinese markets.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)