YouTube video by Kenzo Kaifu

Governments have made promises to protect seahorses from illegal and unsustainable trade. At the 34th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Animals Committee , Dr. Sarah Foster, our Focal Point for Global Fisheries and Trade, had th

In a historic move, governments attending the 20th meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP20) adopted unprecedented measures to protect the most imperiled shark and ray species from the harmful impacts of international trade. All measures proposed at CoP20 passed including an international commercial trade ban (CITES Appendix I) for oceanic whitetip sharks, […]

Experts from around the world will meet in Geneva for the 28th meeting of the Plants Committee (PC28) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the wildlife trade treaty. This is the first plant-focused meeting since CoP20, the treaty’s big global conference, ended in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in December 2025. The meeting will run from July 17-23, 2026, at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG) in Switzerland, right after the 34th meeting of Animals Committee (AC34, July 13-17). Both committees will also hold a joint session to discuss issues common to plants and animals. Plants are the quiet majority of CITES. Of the more than 41,000 species the convention regulates, over 80 per cent are plants like timber trees, orchids, cacti, aloes, cycads, and medicinal and aromatic plants among them. Unlike well-known animals such as elephants or tigers, plant trade rarely makes headlines, even though it matters a great deal to furniture makers, perfume companies, herbal medicine industries, and forest communities who depend on these plants for a living. The Plants Committee is one of two permanent scientific bodies under the convention, the other being the Animals Committee. Its job is to give...

The annual UN climate conference is a prime opportunity for companies to flaunt their green credentials – whether or not they actually have any

YouTube video by International Cryosphere Climate Initiative

Newswise — As the world marks Earth Day, a troubling paradox has emerged in the fight to save one of the planet’s most iconic species. Data from the December 2025 CITES CoP20 global forum—a gathering where governments worldwide set the rules for international wildlife trade—highlights a startling trend. While South Africa’s anti-poaching and anti-trafficking efforts yielded a 16% overall decline in rhino poaching in 2025 compared to 2024, the success was not uniform. While poaching in some regions plummeted due to intense security, poaching in Kruger National Park reported a total of 175 poached rhinos for 2025, double the number of animals killed in the park in 2024. This displacement, which economists call the “waterbed effect,” is exactly what Wake Forest economist Fred Chen predicted: pushing down on poaching in one park doesn't eliminate the crime—it simply forces it toward softer targets. Moving Beyond the "Security Treadmill" As 20th-century security tactics fail to stop a $20 billion global market, Chen argues we must pivot from fences to market disruption. “Mainstream conservationists tend to use traditional methods to deter poachers, such as increasing enforcement and monitoring. These move the problem elsewhere,” Chen says. “Poachers are innovative, cunning and desperate.” A New...

酪農学園大学　遠井朗子 はじめに 　2025年11月24日から12月5日にかけて、ウズベキスタンのサマルカンドでCITESのCoP20が開催された。2025年はCITESの効力発生から50周年という節目の年にあたるが、事前のブリーフィングでは、議案の数が年々増加し、事務局の業務がひっ迫しているとして、効率的な会議運営への協力が求められ、祝賀ムードは希薄であった。 　とくに、事務局の運営費用を...

CITES 2025: Im November findet in Usbekistan, die Weltartenschutz-Konferenz (CITES CoP20) statt. Verhandlungen über Zukunft von 234 Arten:

2025年11月24日から12月5日までウズベキスタンのサマルカンドでワシントン条約第20回締約国会議（CITES CoP20）が開催されました。この会議にオブザーバーとしてJWCSからスタッフ2名、研究協力者（自費で参加）2名を派遣しました。そして12月22日にオンラインで参加報告会を開催しました。この記事はその報告会の発言に加筆・修正をしたものです。 ワシントン条約「絶滅のおそれのある野生動...

Wild Animals Not Pets-Enshring Responsible Pet Ownership Through Positive Lists in Consumer Markets 2025.11.29 ワシントン条約は条約の対象となる、国際取引を規制する動植物種を「附属書」でリストアップする「ネガティブリスト（ブラックリスト）」方式をとっています。 しかし附属書に掲載するには...