Good and Bad News from the CITES Conference
Having addressed Tusk’s Time for Change event on the eve of the CITES conference, now that the conference is over CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon has hailed it as “a game changer that will be remembered as a point in history when the tide turned in favor of ensuring the survival of our most vulnerable wildlife”. Fifty-one of the proposals discussed over the fortnight were accepted, five were rejected and six were withdrawn. Governments agreed to take stronger actions in combating illegal wildlife trade, higher protection for entire groups of species, targeted demand reduction strategies for illegally traded wildlife, and agreement on closer engagement with rural communities.