White-nose shark, black-nose shark, rosewood, pernambuco wood, sea cucumber, yellow-headed bulbul, yellow-headed turtle, white rhino… These wild species, like so many others, are taken from the wild and sold for their meat, their fin, their ivory, to make furniture or musical instruments, as pets to serve or to enrich a collection.
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To ensure that these transactions do not jeopardize their survival, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) meets for its 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) starting Monday 14 November, just a few weeks before the opening of COP15 for Biodiversity scheduled for December in Canada.
“The second cause of biodiversity loss is overexploitation of species: this includes legal trade, which therefore needs to be regulated, and illegal trade,” explains Ivonne Higuero, Secretary General of Cites. We must act because it provides people with work, food and income. But we are at a crossroads: either we have a short-term vision and look at what gets us money today, or we ensure that biodiversity continues for generations to come. »
Sharks, a big problem
In a report published in July, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recalled that global trade in flora and fauna has increased significantly over the past forty years. Hundreds of millions of live specimens or derivative products are now traded each year in a multi-billion euro market. “In the absence of effective regulation throughout the supply chain, this trade usually increases pressure on the species, leading to unsustainable use and sometimes population collapse,” experts point out.
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To better regulate these exchanges, CITES, which came into force in 1975 and has been ratified by 184 states and organizations, already has around 38,000 species listed in its three “appendices” – the vast majority of them plants – in poor conservation status and for the trade is a threat. An entry in Schedule 1 that offers the most protection prohibits any transaction for commercial purposes. For Appendix 2 species, imports and exports are still permitted but are subject to permit and quota systems. Finally, Appendix 3 prohibits trade from a specific destination, for example for an endemic species. “This convention has a certain force and states undertake to respect its decisions,” affirms Florian Kirchner, responsible for the species program in the French Committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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