The Ukrainian delegation at the 19th Conference of the Parties to the CITES Convention (on endangered international trade in species of wild fauna and flora) COP19 in Panama called limit Russia's participation in the adoption of decisions and resolutions of the Convention.
Members COP19 supported Ukraine and condemned Russia's military aggression, reports Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources on Telegram.
Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Grechanyk said that the Russian Federation flagrantly violates the UN Charter and disregards the resolutions of the UN General Assembly.
The delegation's statement was supported by representatives of the European Union and 27 Contracting Parties, the United States, the UK and New Zealand.
"Russia has provoked an ecocide of all life in Ukraine. The war is destroying the habitats of thousands of species of wild fauna and flora. Many CITES endangered animals in zoos and other institutions have died or been injured due to artillery and rocket attacks by the Russian army," Grechanyk emphasized during the speech.
He stressed that a vivid example of the consequences of the war for CITES was the forced export from Ukraine of animals included in the CITES lists. Their owners were not able to follow the procedures and draw up the necessary documents.
Grechanik stressed that armed conflicts are a growing threat to wildlife crime prevention strategies, capacity building programs and other efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
He also urged not to use the Russian language in the work, because it is the language of the country that destroys all life.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the participants of the international conference of the Ramsar Convention (COP14), for the first time in 50 years of its existence, voted for limiting Russia's rights as a Contracting Party.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, during his speech at the G20 summit, presented Ukraine's proposals that must be implemented for a speedy and fair end to the aggressive Russian war. He called ecocide one of the ten challenges for the whole world and the need for immediate protection of nature.
