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Criticisms of the IWMC
Eugene Lapointe has unique credentials to write a book on sustainability. He is the current president of IWMC World Conservation Trust, a global coalition of experts and wildlife managers promoting sustainable resource use guided by science. An attorney who grew up in the woods of Quebec, Lapointe served fourteen years in the Canadian government before becoming the Secretary General of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, from 1982 to 1990. CITES is the international trade commission overseeing the multi-billion-dollar-a-year commerce in wild animals and their products.
Lapointe left his post at CITES dramatically on November 2, 1990, when he was dismissed by UNEP executive director Mostapha Tolba. The campaign to remove him was led by a handful of U.S. officials and 28 major NGOs, who, according to Lapointe, 'claimed I had become the worst criminal on the planet.' His crime was advocating a sustainable-use philosophy that allowed for scientifically directed hunting of whales, elephants, and other animals, especially in situations that respect local cultural values.
Thirty months later, a Panel of Judges at the United Nations described Lapointe's dismissal as 'capricious and arbitrary,' resulting from 'the worst case of character assassination in the history of the United Nations.' In a unanimous decision, the judges vindicated Lapointe, awarded him financial compensation, ordered his reinstatement, and forced the U.N. secretary general to write a letter stating that Lapointe "had fulfilled his duties and responsibilities in every way and in a highly satisfactory manner.' [1]
One of the world's largest animal welfare groups was last night accused of trying to unduly influence a world meeting on endangered animals by paying for official delegates to attend.
According to Eugene Lapointe, a former director of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) has offered to pay the fare of members of the Russian and several west African delegations to next week's meeting in Bangkok.
This, he says, threatens to "contaminate" the international meeting, which next week will attract 160 countries and more than 500 non-governmental groups. Decisions will be taken at the meeting on the protection of lions, elephants, sharks and turtles. [2]
