Bermuda is helping to preserve the world's endangered species through the work of its own Scientific Authority into the trade of endangered species.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

Bermuda is a member of CITES and the local authority of the organisation is chaired by Antoinette Butz.

She said that at the last CITES meeting, the UK branch wanted Bermuda's input whether Hippocampus seahorses should be put on the endangered species list.

"A lot of Asian countries find out that seahorses are good for medicine," Mrs. Butz said. "People were buying them by the ton, which of course, depleted the number of seahorses... Our little voice in Bermuda helped to keep endangered species alive world-wide."

Bermuda recommended that the species be added and, as a result, Hippocampus seahorses were added to the CITES endangered species list on May 15, 2004.

Protecting endangered species can be complicated as most people are unsure what is endangered and what is not.

For example, Mrs. Butz said while coral is protected it is often seen for sale in local souvenir shops, and this may be perfectly legal.

"You can bring in certain corals if you can show it was not ripped from the wild," she said.

Corals are not the only species that are partially protected.

Endangered flowers such as orchids can only be brought into Bermuda with special paperwork thanks to CITES, Mrs. Butz added.

Tropical birds like parrots should only be kept as pets if they were born locally and cannot be brought here if taken from the wild, she said.

Locally produced parrots are given a special tag on their legs with all their information, so they can travel around the world if their owners want to move.

Bermuda's "little voice" speaks through the Scientific Authority whenever the UK branch of the convention want a question answered.

"We are under England," Mrs. Butz said. "We form when they would like our input.

Typically, Bermuda has better knowledge about tropical marine-life, she suggested.

"We talked of Queen Conchs, Cayman farms them," she said. "You can bring in boxes of conchs, but they have to be brought in properly".

The other members of the local CITES authority are Nell Johnston, John Lightbourne, Government Plant Protection Officer Terry-Lynn Thompson and Government Veterinarian Jonathan Nesbitt.

Natural History Museum curator Dr. Wolfgang Sterrer used to chair CITES here, she added, but is no longer involved.

More information may be found at www.cites.org

"It is still necessary to keep endangered species alive," Mrs. Butz said. "It is nice that Bermuda is a member country as a lot of people are interested in the environment."