Context:
CITES launched “CITES Rosewoods: The Global Picture” Report.
Report Highlights:
- The report details CITES-listed rosewood species’ characteristics, ecosystem roles, regeneration rates, and threats.
- Such information will help CITES parties make informed non-detriment findings (NDFs).
- NDF – A mandatory scientific analysis under CITES to ensure that exporting a specified quantity of specimens of Appendix I and II listed species will not affect their long-term survival in the wild.
About Rosewood:
- Also called as “palisander”
- Rosewood in Appendix II of CITES include:
- Dalbergia latifolia (Malabar rosewood) and Dalbergia Sissoo (Shisham) are found in India and are listed as Vulnerable and Least Concern (respectively) on IUCN red list.
- African rosewood, native to West African countries, is listed as endangered on IUCN red list.
- Role in Ecosystem –
- Utility: Crafting furniture and musical instruments.
- Soil Improvement: Dalbergia species can improve degraded soil through fast decomposing leaf litter, rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon.
- Nitrogen Fixation: Some species form symbiotic associations with soil bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen.
About CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora):
- An international legally binding agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
- Genesis: Drafted in 1963 following an IUCN resolution, it came into force in 1975.
- Parties: 184 (including India)
- CITES Appendices: Contains lists of species afforded different levels or types of protection from over-exploitation.
- Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction.
- Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.
- Appendix III contains species protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade.
Source: CITES
Previous Year Question
With reference to ‘Red Sanders’, sometimes seen in the news, consider the following statements:
1. It is a tree species found in a part of South India.
2. It is one of the most important trees in the tropical rain forest areas of South India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2016 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (a)
Explanation:
It is mostly found in Andhra Pradesh. It is not grown is tropical rain forest. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
