A new study has revealed that two-fifths of species likely threatened by the international wildlife trade are not covered by the global agreement that regulates it. This includes 370 species that are Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM.
Overexploitation is a major threat to vulnerable animal and plant species, and one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss. Consequently, the recent UN-brokered deal for nature – the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – included international pledges to ensure that the harvest, use, and trade in wild species is sustainable. With the Framework now in place, a team of researchers set out to identify potential gaps in international trade protections for the world’s biodiversity.
The study, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, was conducted by a team of ecologists and wildlife trade experts at the University of Oxford, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
The researchers used the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species – the most authoritative global source on at-risk animals and plants – to identify species likely threatened by international trade. They then compared these findings with the species of animals and plants included in the international wildlife trade protections set by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Around 40,000 species are currently included in the CITES Appendices.
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Posted On: 12/07/2023