C.I.T.E.S
CITES is the singles most important treaty protecting species at an international level. CITES stands for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. It was established in 1973 in association with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Currently, the treaty has been ratified by more than 120 countries. CITES is headquartered in Switzerland. It establishes lists (known as Appendices) of species for which the international trade has to be regulated and monitored. Those nations which are affiliated agree to restrict the trade and destructive exploitation of these species. Appendix I includes approximately 675 animals and plants for which commercial trade is prohibited. Appendix II include approximately 3700 animals and 21,000 plants whose international trade is monitored and restricted. International treaties such as CITES are implemented once the countries signed pass laws and enforce them. Once these laws have been passed within a country, police, wildlife inspectors, customs officials and other government agents can arrest and prosecute anyone who possesses or trades organisms which are listed by the treaty and seize them. Member countries are required to have their own management an
Governments need to start implementing the laws and become much more strict when enforcing such laws. To prevent overexploitation from happening, there is a need for education, economic alternatives for the people involved, and strict control and management of the trade at the points of import and export. First, many species migrate across international boundaries; therefore, these species must be protected wherever they are at the time and the habitats they will occupy when they migrate. For example, hunting and fishing laws which were implemented in the US in the 1890s to conserve the resources for future use of hums rather than to preserve the species for its own sake. Only when every country starts working out together will we solve these problems. The rhino horns, elephant tusks, tiger bones, turtle eggs, even black bear gallbladders are in high demand for different purposes. Persuasion and public pressure are the principal means used to induce countries to enforce treaty provisions and prosecute violators, although funding through treaty organizations seems to help as well. The biggest problems that every international treaty (not just CITES) is facing is that participation is voluntary and countries can withdraw from participating at any time they desire to do so or if they find that the rules and norms they have to follow are too difficult to comply with. The Endangered species act (ESA) of 1973, which sets different categories for the degree of danger or risk animals of all kinds (not just game animas like the fishing and hunting laws) to disappear, and to save as much biodiversity as possible. The protection of biological diversity has to be addressed at many levels of government. Every country is in need of their biological diversity for purposes ranging from agriculture, medicine and industry to the ecosystems that help regulate the climate and those which are of importance for ecotourism and biological research. NGO's such as the IUCN, WWF, TRAFFIC network, and WCMC provide advice and assistance to the authorities. This flaw was highlighted when several countries walked out of the International Whaling commission due to the ban on whale hunting.
Common topics in this essay:
WWF TRAFFIC,
International Whaling,
Appendix II,
UNEP Currently,
Conclusion CITES,
CITES CITES,
international trade,
Endangered Species,
biological diversity,
exploitation species,
species international,
endangered species,
international level,
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