JEWELRY CORAL (CORALLIUM) LOOKS SET TO MAKE THE 'CITES' LIST OF ENDANGERED SPECIES NEXT MARCH.
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Having just escaped addition to the infamous Appendix II list of endangered species in 2007, jewelry coral will almost certainly be cited as protection-worthy by CITES in early 2010 when the group meets again. On October 8th, the U.S. and the E.U. jointly announced their intention to seek trade protection for red and pink coral at the upcoming March meeting of CITES—a 178-nation consortium that monitors some 30,000 maritime flora and fauna for the purposes of preserving them.
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This startling announcement gives heightened importance to the “Coral: Symbol, Substance and Significance” conference being held Thursday-Saturday, October 29-31, 2009, at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Organized by Lisa Koenigsberg, president of Initiatives in Art and Culture, the gathering will bring together all stakeholders in the explosive debate over jewelry coral management and use. Among those making presentations: Michael Kowalski, chairman of Tiffany’s; designer Stephen Dweck; artist Michelle Oka Doner; fashion forecaster David Doneger; and museum curators, jewelry historians and representatives from several coral growing regions and wildlife monitoring groups.
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Reprint from Colored Stone Magazine
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