So, the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has concluded. EIA campaigners and friends from range states were at this massive meeting in Bangkok, working hard and calling on Parties to stop stimulating demand for ivory, Asian big cats and rosewood
Regardless of an international commitment under a UN treaty to phase them out, tiger farms still operate in China, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. The tigers in these operations play no conservation role – from either a genetic diversity perspective or an educational perspective
National Geographic has published an investigative report on the illegal ivory trade, Blood Ivory, which highlights fundamental flaws in the CITES ivory-trading system. Ivory trading drives poaching and ivory trafficking and we urge the CITES Parties to learn from this mistake and invest in adequate enforcement.