Defenders' Experts
International Wildlife Trade
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), adopted in 1973, is one of the oldest and most effective international environmental agreements. Defenders works to establish stronger wildlife protections under CITES.
Defenders’ CITES efforts, in collaboration with the global Species Survival Network, have helped protect numerous exploited animal and plant species, particularly bigleaf mahogany, elephants, parrots, sharks, whales and sea turtles.
March 2010 CITES Roundup
Wildlife trade meeting ends with some good, some bad, some ugly.
The March 2010 CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar, created new safeguards for some rare wildlife, but left many threatened species such as polar bears in as much trouble as ever.
The next CITES Conference of the Parties meeting is scheduled to be held in Thailand in 2013.
Find out which species now have better protection and which are left more vulnerable than ever >>
CITES Appendices
CITES regulates international trade in plant and animal species by establishing specific lists under its three appendices, each with different restrictions on trade in those species.
Appendix I: Species most in danger of extinction. Commercial trade in these species is generally banned;
Appendix II: Species that may be in danger of extinction in the near future if trade is not strictly regulated. Any commercial trade in these species requires certification from government authorities that such trade is legal and sustainable; and
Appendix III: Species that are protected in at least one country, which has requested help from other CITES members to ensure that its wildlife protection laws are properly enforced, and that any trade in the species is legal.
|
|
