The importance of understanding trade when designing effective conservation policy - The case of the vulnerable Abies guatemalensis Rehder

Trade may be an important factor driving over-exploitation of endangered species. Often, however, there are fundamental gaps in our knowledge of such trade: how are market chains structured and how do they operate? What drives demand? This paper investigates trade in Abies guatemalensis Rehder, a conifer species on CITES Appendix 1 and listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The aim is to contribute to the development of an effective conservation policy in Guatemala. Data were collected from December 2004 to August 2007 through a nation-wide survey using standardised open-ended interviews with plantation owners (n =26), retailers (n =67) and urban consumers (n =993). Triangulations of estimated traded amounts and prices, combined with an assessment of own-reported values, indicate that the findings were reliable. Illegally wild harvested branches move from collectors to regional and local wholesalers and finally to urban based retailers who assemble the branches on a pole (hereafter semi-natural trees). This is in parallel to legal trade in certified trees from plantations. The number of traded illegal semi-natural A. guatemalensis and plastic Christmas trees increased dramatically during 2002-2005; demand for other types of Christmas trees remained at low levels. In the same period, prices significantly increased for semi-natural A. guatemalensis trees but remained constant or fell for other Christmas trees. This is explained by rising per capita incomes, a strong cultural preference for the uniquely scented A. guatemalensis, significantly higher price of certified legal plantation trees and ineffective implementation of existent legislation. The importance of increasing legal supplies, e.g. through decreasing plantation production costs and involving local communities in managing in-situ resources, is emphasised.