The CITES Module

The CITES Thematic Module of the Amazon Regional Observatory platform (ORA) is aimed at managing, integrate and interoperate data on CITES species trade information in the eight member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO): Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

The Thematic Modules have been defined on the basis of the thematic lines established by the Strategic Agenda for Amazonian Cooperation (AECA) such as: Biodiversity, Water Resources, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, CITES, among others.

The CITES Thematic Module integrates its resources and contents with the other Thematic Modules (Biodiversity, Forests, Water Resources) and with the Integrating Modules (Digital Amazon, Our Amazon, Amazon Networks, and GeoAmazon) of the ARO, through the following options:

• Digital Library
• Reports

The information contained in the CITES Thematic Module has been generated mainly from data from national information systems of ACTO Member Countries in collaboration with their respective institutions and official authorities, as well as, due to the relevance of the information, data from external sources such as the Global Biodiversity Infromation Facility (GBIF) web portal, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (cites. org), the web portal of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), among others.

The CITES Thematic Module integrates the information on the species (specialised in its subject matter), through graphics and tabular content and is presented in a Dashboard, where the user can access the details of each content in the section determined for each one. This module presents information related to the following CITES Operations:

• Imports/Exports
• Illegal trafficking
• Actors
• Instruments

It is important to mention that the information in this module is aligned to 19 thematic areas derived from the CITES thematic area defined by ECTA, which are the following:

1. National CITES Species List
2. Exporters of CITES Species
3. Export quotas by CITES Species
4. CITES legal instruments
5. CITES Implementation Plans
6. CITES Authorities and Functions
7. CITES Specialists and Experts
8. CITES permits
9. Seizures of CITES Species
10. Illegal trade in CITES
11. CITES Species Management Plans
12. CITES Species DENPs
13. CITES Species Studies
14. CITES Species Identification Mechanisms
15. CITES Species Nurseries and Hatcheries
16. CITES Exports and Imports
17. CITES traceability
18. CITES Annual Reports
19. CITES Certificate

In addition, the thematic line “CITES multimedia information” has been added as part of the added value that this Thematic Module will offer.