South Africa will host the 17th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP17), or the World Wildlife Conference at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg from 24 September to 5 October 2016.
South Africa was one of the first signatories to CITES in 1975 and continues to play an active role in the implementation and enforcement of the Convention.
CoP17 is set to be the largest ever meeting of the Conference of the Parties, with a record number of agenda items, side events and delegates expected to attend.
Members of the media area advised of the following media arrangements for the smooth coverage of the CITES COP17 Conference.

MEDIA ACCREDITATION PROCESS
Online media registration is currently closed. Onsite media accreditation is taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre. All media are expected to undergo live accreditation.
Applicants are advised of the following requirements to get accreditation:
South African Identity Document or Passport
Press Card
Letter from the editor
A passport photo
For foreign media, Foreign Driver Licenses will not be accepted as proof of identification.
NB: New applicants for media registration will be required to allow for at least four days for security screening requirements.
Media accreditation dates and times
Accreditation can be collected, at the Sandton Convention Centre daily between 08:30 and 18:00. Accreditation will be open for the duration of the Conference until 05 August 2016 at 12h00.
MEDIA CENTRE OPERATIONS

Access to media facilities will be available only to accredited media representatives.

A Media Centre, with facilities for print, online and electronic media will be available in Exhibition 2 on Level -2 of the Sandton Convention Centre.

A general work area will be provided in the Media Center. The work area will be equipped with work desks, where laptops and printers can be plugged in. Laptops with Microsoft Windows packages will also be available.


HOST BROADCAST ARRANGEMENTS
Due to the magnitude of the Conference, SABC has been contracted to provide a clean feed to all broadcasters and facilitate signal distribution.
As the appointed host broadcaster for the CITIES CoP17 Conference and it will constitute of the following:
Coverage of Official opening of the conference
Closing of the conference
Provision of World audio-visual- feed in either SD or HD for accredited media.
The pool feed will be accessible via distribution box/es with BNC connectivity plug-in-points
The contact person responsible for the coordination of the pool feeds and liaison with all technicians on media requirements is:
Mr. Setlogola Thoke – SABC Acting General Manager Special Broadcasts
Cell:  082 371 0021 or email thokens@sabc.co.za
Online Conference Programme
The programme for CITIES COP17 is available online: https://cites.org/sites/default/files/E-CoP17-03-R2.pdf
https://cites.org/cop17
Media can use the Online Conference Programme to view topic-focused roadmaps and build your own personalised itinerary, which allows you to select individual sessions and print out your attendance plan.
Social Media
Follow the CITIES COP17 Conference conversation on the following Social Media platforms: @GCISMedia; @Environmentza; @CITIES and the hashtags are #CITESCOP17 and  #Cop17.
For more information on the CITIES Cop17, visit the webpage: www.gov.za or https://cites.org/cop17
The CITIES Cop17 fast and functional App is available for download on the App Store and Google Play. By logging on to the App, media will be able to retrieve itinerary made on the online version of the programme. Access your schedule on the go.

Further CITES CoP17 information can be accessed by visiting:

https://cites.org/cop17

Quick links:

Agenda of the CoP17:

https://cites.org/eng/cop/17/doc/index.php

The running schedule of CoP17 (Working Programme):

https://cites.org/sites/default/files/E-CoP17-03-R2.pdf

For media queries contact:

Yuan Liu, Programme and Communications Officer, UNEP/CITES Secretariat at +41 22 917 8130

Albi Modise, Chief Director: Communications, Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa, on +27 83 490 2871

ISSUED BY GCIS ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS