Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

• What is it?

• Created in the 1960s

• ​An international agreement between governments to eliminate the ability of international trade of wild animals and plants to threaten their survival

• International wildlife trade allows hunters to make a huge profit, it is worth billions of dollars and includes hundreds of millions of plant and animal species

• Why does the trade of animals occur?

• People can make a big profit

• It can range from living animals and plants to products of them, including food products, leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios, and medicines

• Certain animals are exploited significantly more than others

• What is the effect of animal trade?

• The combination of habitat degradation and the trade of animals greatly reduces the population of species and can even cause extinction

• What are the weaknesses of CITES?

• It is an agreement that is legally binding, but does not take the place of national law

• It requires international cooperation which does not always occur

• Countries (called States and Parties in CITES) agree to adhere voluntarily, making it so that some States do not

• It provides a framework that each State has to adopt into its own legislation to ensure it is implemented at the national level

#legislation