CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between 183 nations, which aims to ensure that international trade in wild animals and plants doesn't threaten their survival.

Between 24 September - 5th October 2016, the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP17) took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, resulting in several victories for conservation.

The Parties of CITES voted to give all eight species of pangolin, the most illegally trafficked mammals in the world, the highest level of protection (known as Appendix I). The complete ban on international trade in pangolins and pangolin parts (such as meat and scales, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine) is a crucial step in saving these animals from the brink of extinction.
• African grey parrots - which have dwindled due to their popularity as pets and destruction of their habitat - were also moved to Appendix I, alongside the endangered Barbary macaque, which is poached illegally for circuses, pets, and sometimes zoos.
• By a consensus decision, the CITES Parties placed all 300 species of rosewood under international trade restrictions. The demand for rosewood, driven by a booming luxury furniture market in China, has made it the world's most trafficked wild product, with an annual market value of $2.2bn. Rampant logging has devastated forests in Southeast Asia, but traffickers will no longer be able to pass off illegally felled rosewood timber as legitimate.
• Three species of thresher shark, as well as silky sharks and nine species of devil ray also won new protections at the global wildlife summit. Around 100 million sharks are caught every year, mostly for their fins which are used to make soup. Devil rays are targeted because their gill plates are in high demand for their supposed medicinal properties. Shark fins and ray gills are among the world's most profitable fish commodities (the annual trade in shark fins is worth $1bn alone) but the new trade restrictions are a big step towards conserving these 13 species.
Elephants and rhinos were hotly debated by the CITES nations, who agreed unanimously that all domestic ivory markets should be closed and denied a proposal by Swaziland to allow a regulated trade in white rhino horn (sought after due to the misplaced belief it can increase fertility).

Masquer le texte