Biodiv Sci ›› 2019, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (9): 1041-1045.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2019286

• Forum • Previous Articles    

Control international trade in wildlife and protect the earth’s biodiversity—Commentary on the 18 th Conference of the Parties of CITES

Yan Zeng1,2,Jie Zhou3,Qi Dong4,Xiaoge Ping1,2,Zhigang Jiang1,2,5,*()   

  1. 1 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101
    2 Endangered Species Scientific Commission, P.R. China, Beijing 100101
    3 Bureau of Science and Technology for Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864
    4 Bureau of International Co-operation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864
    5 College of Life Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
  • Online:2019-09-20 Published:2019-09-25
  • Contact: Zhigang Jiang

Abstract:

The 18 th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was held in Geneva, Switzerland from August 17 to 28, 2019. The Parties discussed 56 proposals for amendment of the Appendix of the Convention and 140 working documents, continuing the trend of the amendment of the Appendix in recent years. However, the trend of including more species in the Appendix slowed down at this Convention. The Parties clarified the annotations, application, interpretation and implementation of the Appendix, established new regulatory resolutions and adopted the CITES Strategic Vision post-2020. At the meeting, China established a positive image as a responsible country that attaches importance to the construction of ecological civilization, and all five proposals for amendments of the CITES Appendix proposed or jointly proposed by China have been adopted by the Parties.

Key words: CITES, amendment to Appendix, international trade, sustainable use, active implementation