Hundreds at-risk plant and animal species lack global trade protections

LONDON – A new study has found that hundreds of endangered plant and animal species are not protected by international trade.

The study, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, found that 904 species are likely threatened by international trade.

The study, led by Oxford University, also found that only 1,307 endangered species are currently protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This means that two-fifths of species threatened by international trade are not currently protected.

The study’s authors say these findings underscore the need for reforms to the international convention to ensure that more species are protected.

They also call for increased monitoring and enforcement efforts.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) entered into force in 1975.

At least 184 parties have since joined the Convention, which currently protects nearly 41,000 species – including more than 6,600 animals and 34,300 plants – from overexploitation.

“CITES listings should respond to the best available information on a species’ status and be adopted where they will be likely to benefit the species,” said University of Oxford research fellow Dan Challender in a statement.

Challender worked with ecologists and wildlife trade experts at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the Zoological Society of London for the study, published last week in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

“CITES includes 59% (1,307 species), leaving two-fifths overlooked and in potential need of international trade regulation.”

The paper explains that because “there is no established method to systemically determine which species are most at risk from international trade to information potential trade measures under CITES,” the research team developed a mechanism using IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, which includes assessments over 150,000 species.

The team found that “of 38,245 globally threatened and near threatened species, 5.8% (2,211 species) are likely to be threatened by international trade.”