CITES delegates move to protect more than 500 wildlife species, including nearly 100 sharks and rays

Delegates to an international conference for protecting wildlife adopted proposals to regulate international trade in more than 500 new species, including the first regulations aimed at the shark fin trade that each year kills off millions of sharks.

Representatives of more than 160 governments that are part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, voted to limit or regulate commercial trade dozens of shark species, including the tiger, bull and blue sharks most targeted for the fin trade, and shark-like rays.

The summit voted to protect 100 species of sharks and rays, more than 150 tree species, 160 amphibian species, including tropical frogs, 50 turtle and tortoise species and several species of songbirds – all of which have suffered declining populations in recent years.

The votes came at the end of two weeks of negotiations during a summit in Panama, where delegates adopted 46 of the 52 proposals that were put forward.

Included were votes to reject resumption of the ivory and rhinoceros horn trade, helping reduce threats to elephants and rhinos, and to hold Mexico accountable for failing to stem the vaquita porpoise’s slide towards extinction.

The summit in Panama City drew more than 2,500 participants and, for the first time, adopted a resolution calling for more gender equality among traders in wildlife.

The delegates also agreed to investigate ways it can help reduce zoonotic diseases; 70% of emerging diseases in humans are believed to be transferred by wild animals to human.

'For future generations'

CITES, run by a secretariat in Geneva, sets the rules for international trade in wild fauna and flora and serves as a tool to ensure sustainability and to respond to losses in biodiversity by preventing and reversing declines in wildlife populations.

“Trade underpins human well-being, but we need to mend our relationship with nature, CITES Secretary-General Ivonne Higuero said. "The decisions coming from this meeting will serve the interests of conservation and wildlife trade, that doesn’t threaten the existence of species of plants and animals in the wild, for future generations.”

By regulating trade in more than 36,000 species, CITES has served as a key conservation tool for more than 45 years. Not everyone was pleased with the results of this latest summit, which is held once every three years to vote on protections and the treaty’s interpretation.

“I’m thankful CITES countries didn’t re-open the bloody ivory and rhino horn trades, and that the international community recognizes the grave threat trade poses to reptiles, amphibians and many marine species,” said Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re facing an unprecedented biodiversity crisis that can only be halted with transformative change. Unfortunately, this meeting didn’t meet that moment.”

Sanerib noted the convention failed to reach agreement on providing CITES’ highest protections to hippos and elephants in four countries, and said a decision to allow Namibia to relax white rhino trade controls for live animals in their natural range puts rhinos at greater risk.

“Globally cherished mammals such as rhinos, hippos, elephants and leopards didn’t receive increased protections at this meeting while a bunch of wonderful weirdos won conservation victories,” she said.