more than 500 additional species to be protected under CITES regulations

Proposals to regulate international trade of more than 500 additional species were adopted at the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) of The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), held in Panama in November 2022.

The CoP adopted 46 of the 52 proposals put forward, bringing more sharks, lizards, turtles, fish, birds, frogs and more than a hundred tree species under CITES regulations. The regulations help to ensure the sustainability of these species in the wild, while allowing their international trade and contributing to the conservation of ecosystems and global biodiversity. Part of the changes being adopted includes innovative controls on the international trade in shark fins.

However, IFAW was disappointed that governments missed an important opportunity by not accepting Kenya’s proposal to develop a compensation fund for the destruction of ivory stockpiles.