Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) 

CITES is an agreement between over 180 countries to regulate international trade in wild animals and plants. It was established in 1975, and its goal is to protect species from extinction. While governments join the agreement voluntarily, once they are members, they are legally required to create national laws to control the trade in wildlife, ensuring it is legal, sustainable, and traceable. 

An outright ban on wildlife trade is not always the solution, as it sometimes sends illicit activities underground, so bans should be accompanied by increased enforcement and measures to reduce demand for wildlife products. By properly regulating wildlife trade, we can have greater visibility and monitoring of the legal and illegal activities of global trade routes. 

There are three appendices to CITES that guide trade regulation based on how threatened a species is: 

Appendix 1 is for species that are the closest to extinction and need the highest level of protection. Appendix 1 species make up just 3% of the 38,000 covered by CITES and can’t be legally traded for commercial purposes. 

Appendix 2 is for species that are likely to be threatened with extinction without trade regulation. It also includes ‘look-alike’ species to prevent protected wildlife being traded illegally as a look-alike species. While it is legal to trade Appendix 2 species; trade must be limited to sustainable levels and all trade is monitored and controlled with permits. 

Appendix 3 includes species that are protected by at least one country and require international cooperation to protect them. 

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns (rather than short-term or day-to-day changes). These changes are largely driven by the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. Climate change presents a danger to wildlife because it can upset the balance of ecosystems. For example, a temperature change could cause a certain type of plant to stop growing, which lowers the population of a prey species that eats it, which lowers food availability for predator species. This is a very simple example. In reality, ecosystems are extremely complex, and a temperature change could have a domino effect that harms hundreds of co-existing species. 

Fortunately, there are ways we can work to combat climate change. IFAW is supporting nature-based solutions, through which nature itself helps us heal the planet. 

Overfishing is exactly what it sounds like—catching a species of fish or other marine animal in excessive and unsustainable quantities. This is dangerous because if too many fish are caught, there aren’t enough fish left over to repopulate, and they risk extinction. 

Overfishing is also connected with poor efficiency and money-saving tactics where fishers haul in large amounts of unwanted fish or other animals (known as bycatch) which were not the target and are simply discarded. 

Overfishing isn’t just dangerous for the world’s fisheries and marine species—it’s dangerous for humans too. Around three billion people worldwide depend on seafood as a protein source, and if all fisheries are depleted beyond recovery, we will face a food crisis. 

Illegal wildlife trade refers to the illegal capturing and/or killing of wildlife for commercial purposes. Why the trade is illegal varies depending on the situation: sometimes the species itself is protected by law, sometimes it’s illegal to hunt in certain areas of land, and sometimes it’s the way the wildlife is sold or who it’s sold to that makes the trade illegal. 

The illegal wildlife trade is very destructive. It not only harms the animals that are taken but also their offspring, their ecosystems, and even the park rangers trying to protect them. Illegal trade is almost impossible to stop as long as there’s demand for the product. That’s why it’s so important to spread information and raise awareness about the damage it causes. 

IFAW is dedicated to combatting illegal wildlife trade. We have projects in East Africa, southern Africa, Central Africa, China, Australia, Europe, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean fighting against the illegal trafficking of animals and their parts, and we also work to prevent wildlife cybercrime, which occurs globally. 

Read about how a daring team stops illegal wildlife trade in Indonesia or how we’re supporting forensics training of wildlife rangers in Kenya.