Campaigners push for reform of outdated CITES wildlife trade system
Trade in everything from rhino horn and elephant ivory to python skins, wild orchids and timber is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a treaty dating back to 1975 and backed by more than 180 countries around the world.
But campaigners say that the way in which CITES manages the global wildlife trade has not been updated since it was first set up. In particular, it still relies on a paper-based permit system that does not integrate with international customs protocols, leading to a lack of transparency and traceability in the industry.
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I would posit that every bit as important as to how CITES regulates negative wildlife interactions is
to reform the positive work as well. It should be much more streamlined for accredited institutions to
move exotic species between countries as well as to make it much easier to take limited numbers from the wild (also regulated as a global community so that say 300 zoos aren't allowed to import an endangered species in the same year or any such nonsense).
- CITES, the international treaty that regulates the trade in wildlife products, dates back to 1975, but some of the systems it uses have not changed in that time.
- Campaigners say this lack of modernization has allowed the illegal wildlife trade to proliferate to the tune of more than $250 billion a year.
- Better regulation would reduce the scale of the illegal wildlife trade and ensure legal commerce is truly sustainable, they say.
Trade in everything from rhino horn and elephant ivory to python skins, wild orchids and timber is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a treaty dating back to 1975 and backed by more than 180 countries around the world.
But campaigners say that the way in which CITES manages the global wildlife trade has not been updated since it was first set up. In particular, it still relies on a paper-based permit system that does not integrate with international customs protocols, leading to a lack of transparency and traceability in the industry.
... read more
I would posit that every bit as important as to how CITES regulates negative wildlife interactions is
to reform the positive work as well. It should be much more streamlined for accredited institutions to
move exotic species between countries as well as to make it much easier to take limited numbers from the wild (also regulated as a global community so that say 300 zoos aren't allowed to import an endangered species in the same year or any such nonsense).
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