Launch of 11th CITES European Regional Plants Meeting at UCD
Tuesday, 24 June, 2025
Pictured left to right: Professor Tasman Crowe, Vice-President for Sustainability at UCD, Dr Noeleen Smyth, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science and Christopher O'Sullivan TD, Minister for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity.
Not many people have a job spec that includes “everything from snowdrops to elephants”. But (opens in a new window)Dr Noeleen Smyth’s role involves advising on and risk assessing the sustainability of “wild products” entering and leaving the country.
A lecturer in horticulture at the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, she is also the National Scientific Authority for Ireland for (opens in a new window)CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). This is an international agreement between governments to help protect wild animals and plants from over-exploitation due to international trade.
CITES even has an impact on musical instruments, with many guitars made using protected rosewood and our own uilleann pipes often containing African blackwood and ivory.
“30,000 things are listed - everything from elephants to snowdrops,” Noeleen said, when we spoke at the 11th CITES European Plants Meeting in UCD this morning. “If any of them move country, you have to make sure, if they're in trade, that they're coming from a sustainable source. Elephants are all protected under Appendix One, and that means you can't trade; the only trade has to be for conservation. Most things are in Appendix Two and trade is allowed if you do a risk assessment to prove they are coming from a sustainable source.”
On Friday, Noeleen will speak in UCD about visiting Turkish farms producing sustainable snowdrops, with her counterparts from Finland (André Van Proosdij) and the Netherlands (Barbara Soto Largo Merono).
This morning's opening remarks were made by UCD's Vice-President for Sustainability, Professor Tasman Crowe and the three-day event was launched by Christopher O’Sullivan TD, Minister for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity.
PS You may need a CITES Musical Instrument Certificate from the National Parks and Wildlife Service if taking certain musical instruments across international borders.