Two weeks of heated arguments at the CITES COP15 meeting held in Doha, Qatar, concluded last Thursday, with mostly bad news for marine species. Proposals to put blue-fin tuna and some shark and coral species on the Appendix I list (which bans all trade) were rejected.

“CITES wasn’t initially designed to manage commercial marine species,” Simon Stuart, chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission, said in a statement. “However, on a regional level the pressure to list commercially valuable marine species on CITES is growing."

But Arab states performed particularly well in this international meeting, raising interest in what role this bloc might be able to play in the future. On very, very rare occasions in the past have Arab countries worked together to present a unified voice to tilt negotiations in their favour. But unified positions during CITES brought real change. The end result might not have always been in nature’s best interest, but it was still an impressive stance.

This was first seen regarding Egypt’s proposal to move its population of Nile Crocodiles from the Appendix I list, which bans any trade in the species, to the Appendix II list, which allows regulated trading of the species. After being nearly wiped out in Egypt, the native crocodile population has since the 80’s soured. Accurate population records are missing, but local authorities put the number as high as 30,000 individuals. The surge in the population has often raised concern from the local fisheries communities.

A unified position for all Arab states behind this proposal brought it very close to passing, with only five votes stopping it. However, the EU reviewed its position due to the popularity of the proposal and after an Egyptian revision, voted in favour of it as well, passing the proposal through.

The other example of a unified position was not as positive. Because Blue-fin tuna play an important economic role for Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, the Arab states, as a whole, supported not banning trade of this marine delicacy. This played an important role in blocking a proposal from Monaco to list Blue-fin tuna in Appendix I.

It will be interesting to see if Arab states can continue to cultivate that unity and act as a unified bloc, pretty much as the EU does, during such international meetings, to bring about agreements in their best interests.

“This is the first time that Arab countries coordinate their positions together. This is good, and desirable. What is needed is to increase scientific research, so that the Arab block can base their coordinated position on science,” said Wael Hmaidan, executive director of the League of Independent Activists (IndyACT).