Enabling Sustainable Wildlife Trade

Enabling sustainable wildlife trade is a key policy measure for growing Africa's wildlife economy. In this respect, CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - plays an important role. 

Over the past two years, the AWEI Community has been providing commentary and analysis on the effectiveness of CITES. These include the following:

• Has CITES become too complicated to be effective? - commentary on refocusing CITES on its original aims and measures
• CITES 78th Standing Committee meeting - AWEI engagement in side-events on hunting trophy policy and a voice in CITES for local communities
• The world wildlife trade regulator is 50 – here’s what has worked and what needs to change
• A theory of change to improve conservation outcomes through CITES - research article
• The return of the UK's ill-conceived bill to ban hunting trophy imports - commentary on a proposed unilateral trade measure that undermines multilateral commitments including CITES
• Elephant in the Room - Why a trophy hunting ban would hurt conservation and development - policy brief released by the Institute of Economic Affairs
• Building a Wildlife Economy - A CITES Animals Committee Side Event - short report on a side event co-hosted by AWEI
• CITES CoP19 increases barriers to African wildlife trade - short analysis on the implications of CoP19 decisions on listed African species
• Is CITES working for African megafauna conservation? - commentary on whether the CITES process is ensuring that the trade or prohibition of trade is conserving Africa's large mammals
• Is CITES promoting or destroying the African Wildlife Economy? - short commentary on the impacts of CoP19 decisions on Africa's wildlife economy
• CITES Appendices Proposals and Livelihoods - short note on the nexus between CITES measures, the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and local livelihoods
• CITES, AfCFTA, and Livelihoods - Implications of the COP19 Appendices Proposals - policy brief on the possible livelihood implications of CITES listing

Africa's engagement with CITES is complex. Some countries promote CITES listings to stop the trade in wild species which they see as a key threat to their survival. Other countries, notably in southern Africa, see it as a barrier to conserving wildlife through the trade in wildlife goods and services. 

At AWEI, the focus is on understanding how CITES measures can more effectively ensure legal and sustainable wildlife trade to support the original aims of the agreement:

Recognizing that peoples and States are and should be the best protectors of their own wild fauna and flora

Recognizing, in addition, that international co-operation is essential for the protection of certain species of wild fauna and flora against over-exploitation through international trade

The agreement is now 50 years old but is still evolving. With the launch of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), CITES has a new opportunity to support GBF Target 5 to "ensure that the use, harvesting and trade of wild species is sustainable, safe and legal." 

The AWEI Community will be following the deliberations at the upcoming CoP20 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to highlight outcomes that may support or hold back the growth of Africa's wildlife economy.