Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: CITES, its appendices

Mains level: Read the attached story

March 3 marks the 50th anniversary of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973.

Why is World Wildlife Day marked?

March 3 marks the anniversary of CITES’ establishment.
CITES is considered a landmark agreement on conservation that focuses on ensuring the sustainability of endangered species.
In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed March 3 as the UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of protecting the world’s wild animals and plants.
This was as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in 1973 on this day.

What is the CITES?

CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
It is as an international agreement aimed at ensuring “that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”.
It was drafted after a resolution was adopted at a meeting of the members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1963.
It entered into force on July 1, 1975, and now has 183 parties.
The Convention is legally binding on the Parties in the sense that they are committed to implementing it; however, it does not take the place of national laws.
India is a signatory to and has also ratified CITES convention in 1976.

CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the convention has to be authorized through a licensing system.
It has three appendices:

Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade-in specimens of these species are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
Appendix II provides a lower level of protection.
Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade.

Having wildlife allowed to be traded further legitimises their movement and increases the possibility of their illegal trade.
Nearly two-thirds of cases, CITES protections lag after a species is determined to be threatened by international trade a/c to NatGeo.
For example, while pangolins were finally added to Appendix I in 2017, an estimated million were trafficked between 2000 and 2013.
Its laxity has been questioned, on matters such as the ivory trade being allowed at times despite the convention banning it in 1989.

CITES needs to evolve to address new challenges and work more closely with other international agreements and initiatives.
There is a need of continued efforts to protect wildlife and biodiversity and the need for international cooperation and collaboration to achieve this goal.