Representatives of more than 160 governments, Parties to the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species of Wild fauna and flora (CITES), reaffirmed their commitment to address the biodiversity crisis by adopting proposals to regulate international trade in more than 500 new species.
CITES CoP19 closed in Panama no November 27 after two weeks of negotiations on the most important issues facing the trade in endangered species of animals and plants.
The CoP adopted a total of 46 Proposals of the 52 put forward. This will bring species of, among others, sharks, lizards, turtles, fish, birds, frogs and more than a hundred tree species under CITES regulations, designed to ensure the sustainability of these species in the wild, while allowing their international trade and also contributing to the conservation of ecosystems and global biodiversity.
The CoP also reached a record number of 365 decisions as they worked to safeguard threatened wildlife species, while at the same time allowing the international trade that underpins human well-being and contributes to conservation efforts. The decisions will shape CITES’ work for the years to come.
CITES regulates the world’s trade in threatened species of animals and plants, 183 countries and the European Union are Parties to the Convention and every three years, they take part in a meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP). This is the 19th time they have met in the past 50 years, since the Convention was adopted in 1973.