May 17, 2025 - Pernambuco and CoP20, where do we stand?
At the end of June, the CITES Secretariat will publish the proposals for listing species on the Convention's appendices in preparation for CoP20 (Samarkand, Uzbekistan, November 24 - December 5, 2025). According to the information at our disposal, Brazil is likely to reapply for Paubrasilia echinata (pernambuco) to be transferred to Appendix I of CITES, which would make international trade in this wood and the resulting products, notably bows for bowed stringed instruments, virtually impossible.
Our team and partners are mobilized every day to reflect, exchange, draft, distribute and present our pleas to the press, institutions in France and Europe, the Brazilian Embassy in France, as well as to orchestras and social networks.
Why does this probable proposal from Brazil raise so many concerns?
- In 2012, Brazil adopted the Programa Nacional de Conservação do Pau-Brasilan action plan designed to establish sustainable commercial plantations of pernambuco through public and private initiatives. However, in February 2025, Brazil's representative to the CITES Standing Committee declared that no plantations had been registered at federal level, which is one of the conditions required for exports to be authorized.
- Several Brazilian players, including bow makers, consider that the transfer of pernambuco to CITES Appendix I would enable the establishment of a legal and sustainable bow making industry in Brazil, and would be a prerequisite for the legalization of existing plantations. However, the inclusion of a species in Appendix I implies a ban on trade, except in certain very specific cases. Moreover, the conditions under which the current pernambuco plantations have been set up are incompatible with the provisions of Appendix I (they could, however, constitute a sustainable source of supply within the framework of CITES Appendix II).
- Operations Dó-Ré-Mi (IBAMA, 2018-2021) and IBIRAPITANGA (phase 1 in 2022, phase 2 in 2023) have targeted Brazilian archers for illegal trade on national territory and for smuggling. However, some of the defendants are highlighting their reforestation efforts. The situation in Brazil therefore seems confused, and hardly conducive to the emergence of a balanced and reasonable solution, which would reconcile the protection of natural populations of pernambuco with the preservation of the legitimate interests of bow makers who wish to perpetuate their art in the service of music and practice within a legal framework.
Why will Appendix I have devastating effects on the music and bow-making industries?
- Trade in a species listed in Appendix I is only authorized in very specific cases, for example when the plants have been artificially propagated in accordance with the strict criteria defined by CITES. However, while it is well known that at least 3,500,000 pernambucos have been planted in Brazil since the 1970s, the vast majority of these plantations do not meet the CITES criteria for artificial reproduction; rather, they are part of what is known as "assisted" production. This means that they have benefited from human intervention (nursery production, replanting, care during the first months or years, etc.), but that they do not meet the very strict conditions of the definition of the expression artificial reproduction established by CITES.
- Consequently, if pernambuco were to be transferred to Appendix I, the trees resulting from these plantations could not be exempted from the prohibitions inherent in CITES Appendix I, even though they were planted with a view to future use and, in some cases, as part of programs coordinated and/or implemented by local public institutions.
Why Annex II is an appropriate framework for preserving pau-brasil and stringed instrument music:
Maintaining the pau-brasil in Appendix II provides a clear framework and a set of regulatory and non-regulatory tools for reconciling several objectives: conservation of the species, promotion of its sustainable use, controlled trade and preservation of musical practice.
- The fight against the illegal trade in pernambuco wood involves first and foremost structuring a traceable, compliant and responsible supply chain. The professionals involved in the International Pernambuco Conservation Initiative (IPCI) have been calling for this for 25 years. This is precisely the objective of Decisions 19.249 to 19.253 adopted by CoP19 CITES in 2022.
- The main recognized use for pernambuco wood is the manufacture of bows for musical instruments. Consequently, the professional organizations of instrument makers and musicians have an important responsibility, which includes doing everything in their power to ensure that the activities of the professions they represent fall fully within a legal and sustainable framework in line with CITES expectations. However, for such a result to be achieved, it is essential that these professional organizations enjoy the support of the Brazilian authorities and that a constructive dialogue can be established with them, for example, by working jointly "to identify existing Brazilian plantations of Paubrasilia echinata [...] with a view to establishing a sustainable supply chain", as requested by CoP19 CITES (Decision 19.252.a.ii).
- Appendix II provides an appropriate framework for international cooperation and the pursuit of scientific progress, conservation (for example, the recently announced project to create the first pau-brasil seed bank in Brazil) and reforestation. In particular, this regulatory framework will enable the implementation of new global "traceability" initiatives.
- CITES Appendix II also allows for the regulated and sustainable use of trees grown in Cabruca-type agroforestry systems where various species are cultivated together for mutual benefit, for example in the state of Bahia, where cocoa is grown in symbiosis with pau-brasils planted by farmers. However, the use of these trees for archaeology would not be possible under Appendix I.
- CITES Appendix II offers the flexibility required to conserve the species while protecting trade and music at both national and international levels.
The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from Monday November 24 to Friday December 5, 2025. The list of proposed new registrations and amendments will be published at least 150 days before the Cop20 session, i.e. by Friday June 27, 2025 at the latest. See the parties' notification.
