ABSTRACT
There are various factors that threaten the conservation status of wild species of fauna and flora. Among these, habitat conversion, fragmentation and destruction account for the most species losses. Excessive commercial exploitation accounts for a much smaller, but still significant, proportion of losses. CITES is intended to protect those species that are threatened by excessive commercial exploitation. To do this, it focuses on a very narrow aspect of commercial exploitation, namely transactions that take place across international borders (ie, international trade). CITES is not designed to address issues such as supply mechanisms, domestic trading regimes or consumer demand. CITES is, therefore, very limited in its potential effectiveness as a conservation tool. Not only does it fail to address issues of habitat loss, but it also fails to create mechanisms to control the supply of wildlife products and it has no direct means to influence consumer demand. As currently structured, CITES operates as a largely restrictive mechanism rather than as an enabling one. Implicit in its existing structure is an assumption that all trade is somehow bad for conservation unless proven otherwise. CITES measures, therefore, tend to emphasize limitations on trade rather than ways to facilitate trade that may ultimately enhance the status of wild species.
