TRAFFIC Southeast Asia Report

This report presents an assessment of the trade in gibbons and orang-utans in Sumatra, Indonesia, including the islands off Sumatra’s west coast (most notably, the Mentawai Islands). TRAFFIC’s overall goal for this study was to create an overview on all aspects of the trade and ‘uses’ of these species throughout Sumatra, and trade connections to other parts of Indonesia, and present it to the relevant authorities as a report with recommendations for action to improve conservation efforts for these primates.

Reports from non-governmental organizations have raised concerns about the scale of illegal trade in merbau, a timber from nine species in the genus Intsia and there is concern over the sustainability of harvests from natural merbau populations. The study on which this report is based, funded by Bundesamt für Naturschutz, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), aimed to investigate in detail the international trade in merbau timber and to provide scientific and current data on the population status, harvest management and trade in these species.

Shortly after the 2002 conclusion of the TRAFFIC surveys the Viet Nam Government prohibited the use and exploitation of wild marine turtles with Government Decree 48/2002/ND-CP. In 2003 the government undertook an awareness campaign to educate relevant government agencies and souvenir business owners/managers that the sale of marine turtle products was illegal.The Vietnamese Government, with assistance from IUCN, WWF, TRAFFIC and the Danish Government, formulated in 2004 a Marine Turtle Conservation Action Plan to 2010 in Viet Nam (MTCAP) (MoFI, 2004).

Since 1997, TRAFFIC has been carrying out country surveys of trade in ivory and, in some cases, live elephants. In 2006/2007, TRAFFIC set out to compile existing and new information on the trade in elephants and elephant products in Thailand in consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders, including carvers, traders, retailers and government regulators.

The Oriental Rat Snake Ptyas mucosa has been used in the international skin trade since the early 20th century. Concern over the effects of trade, notably in Indonesia, and a distinct decline in export volumes at the end of the 1980s, led to the listing of the Oriental Rat Snake in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in January 1990. Following the Appendix-II listing of Oriental Rat Snake, the annual export quota was decreased to 250 000 in 1990 and further to 200 000 in 1992 and 1993.

Traditional medicine in Viet Nam comprises two forms - Traditional Vietnamese Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Both are thousands of years old. The use of these traditional medicine systems has seen a significant resurgence since Viet Nam’s independence in 1945, promoted by government policies that have enabled the development of both traditional and western medicines. The trade in traditional medicine has also benefited from the relaxation of international trade barriers, particularly with China, and free market economies.

This published document consists of two separate reports produced between 2005 and 2007. These reports have been maintained as separate reports in order to maintain their respective integrities as source documents. The first report ‘A Preliminary Investigation into the Use and Trade of Wild Plants and Animals in Traditional Medicine Systems in Cambodia’ by Naomi Walston represents a preliminary examination of the use of Cambodia’s wildlife in Traditional Medicine (TM) systems.

Includes information on 1230 species of reptile, 433 species of mammal and 1212 species of bird taken by just two villages, often for food.