UNEP-WCMC Impact Report

We worked with governments from around the world as they came together in Panama for the 19th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP19). The CITES CoP provided a key opportunity to regulate trade in additional species under this international agreement and to amend existing listings to ensure greater protection where there are concerns of overexploitation.

Through extensive science-policy advice and support to governments in developing listing proposals, we contributed to decisions on increased protection for 223 species including a wide range of African and Neotropical trees in the timber trade, the medicinal plant Rhodiola and a range of animals including hammerhead sharks, the lemur leaf frog and the Indochinese box turtle.

Trade in these species will now be regulated and closely monitored as we continue to manage the CITES Trade Database on behalf of the CITES Secretariat. Any export or import will require a permit from a CITES national authority offering proof that the trade is legal and will have no detrimental effect to the species in the wild. Ongoing monitoring will also provide an evidence base to guide future actions like removing the species from CITES, the establishment of more stringent protections or outright trade bans.