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

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

Why in News?

  • India has recently decided not to vote against a proposal to re-open the international trade in ivory at the ongoing conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Highlights

  • The ivory trade was globally banned in 1989 when all African elephant populations were put in CITES Appendix I.
  • The African elephant of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe were transferred to Appendix II in 1997 and South Africa’s in 2000.
  • CITES allowed Namibia, along with Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, to perform one-time sales of ivory accumulated from natural elephant deaths and poacher seizures in 1999 and 2008.
  • Following that, Namibia’s proposal to enable a regular form of restricted ivory trade by delisting the elephant populations of the 4 nations from CITES Appendix II was rejected at the CoP17 (2016) and CoP18 (2019).
  • Zimbabwe moved the idea at CoP19, but it was defeated once more.
  • Namibia and other southern African governments say that their elephant populations have recovered and that their stored ivory can produce much-needed revenue for elephant conservation, if sold worldwide.
  • Opponents of the trade argue that every sort of supply increases demand, and that substantial increases in elephant poaching were observed around the world when the CITES permitted one-time sales in 1999 and 2008.
  • India has been a vocal opponent of the international ivory trade for over three decades.
  • It is the first time India has not voted against a request to reopen the ivory trade since joining the CITES in 1976
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