CITES

• Framework


  Respected by parties to adopt own legislation to ensure CITES implemented
• CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) established


  1975
• CITES


  An international agreement between governments which aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival
• CITES is now implemented at national level by 183 parties
• CITES has been fairly successful, improving relations between the US and China and attempting to address the ivory trade
• Wildlife products are worth 200 billion a year globally
• Despite high levels, 668 rhinos were killed in 2012 in South Africa alone
• Thanks to the effective implementation of CITES by those who harvest, produce, trade, transport, buy and regulate the wildlife species covered by the Convention, new emergency listings of species have become increasingly rare, and no CITES-listed species has ever become extinct as a result of trade
• Red data book


  Classifies species by level of threat and extinction, targets support for species, and informs conservation programmes
• China has a huge illegal black market where they trade animals and plants
• While preventing more species from becoming threatened by trade, CITES has also enabled the recovery of species that were already endangered, such as the South American vicuña and the Nile crocodile
• About 272 Resolutions have been adopted since the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 1976, but only 90 are currently in effect