9 May 2014: At their annual meetings, the Animals and Plants Committees of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) met back to back to discuss the conservation and sustainable use of a number of species, including sharks, rays, pythons, rare plants and tropical timber species. The Committees drew attention to the impacts of illegal trade on cheetahs, making recommendations for further consideration of this case, as well as a number of other legally traded species, at subsequent CITES meetings.

The Animals and Plants Committees meet once a year and offer technical and scientific advice to ensure the sustainability of global trade in wildlife and its products, which are obtained from over 35,000 species protected under the Convention. The Committees focused on the levels of global commercial trade in products and derivatives of CITES-listed species, and the identification of cases of unsustainable use of species of conservation concern. Some species were highlighted for special review, including lions and cheetahs. The Animals Committee expressed concern over the effects of illegal trade on the status of cheetahs, particularly in north-east Africa, and will bring this to the attention of the CITES Standing Committee, at its July 2014 meeting.

The Committees also recommended bringing international trade in long-tailed macaque monkeys, fischer’s two-horned chameleons, West African and Asian three-spot seahorses and Euphorbia itremensis back to sustainable levels. The Committees also expressed concern over the sustainability of international trade in specimens of polar bears, pangolins, tortoises and turtles and butterflies, and plan to examine these cases in more detail at their next meetings in 2015.

Also on the occasion of the meetings, CITES awarded CONABIO, the CITES Scientific Authority of Mexico, the Certificate of Merit for its contribution to the development of science in the Convention.

The meetings were held in Veracruz, Mexico from 28 April to 8 May. The next meeting of the Animals Committee is expected to be held in Israel and the Plants Committee in Georgia, during the first half of 2015. [CITES Press Release at Conclusion of Meetings] [CITES Press Release on Certificate of Merit] [CITES Press Release at Opening of Meetings]