Focusing On The Conservation of Ecosystems, Habitats & Wildlife

EXPORT TRADE

The financial rewards from the export of valuable wild animals and plants are considerable. Around 33,000 species are included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). For species threatened with extinction, trade is banned except in exceptional circumstances. The convention also includes species for which trade needs to be controlled in order to precent risk of extinction. Finally, it includes species protected in al least one country, where that country has asked other CITES parties for assistance in controlling trade worldwide.

The organization TRAFFIC, the trade monitoring program of WWF and IUCN-The World Conservation Union, was set up in the 1070s to assist in the implementation of CITES. In recent years it has expanded its role to look not only at trade covered by the convention but at how international sectors, including the fisheries and timber trades, impact on whole regions.