ABSTRACT
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in Washington DC, USA, on 3 March 1973, by representatives of 80 countries. CITES is headed up by the Conference of the Parties which meets at three-yearly intervals. The European Commission provides funding, including for a project, ‘strengthening the CITES implementation capacity of developing countries’ for EUR 1 million with follow-up funding of EUR 1.5 million. CITES requires Parties to enforce its provisions through national legislation, and through penalties and/or confiscation of species. CITES allows for controlled breeding in zoos as a way of preserving genetic diversity, and research is permitted. The CITES website provides statistics for the levels in the proportion of illegally killed elephants relative to those dying from natural causes. CITES has been supplemented in part, at least in terms of its philosophical tenets, by the convention on biological diversity, adopted in Nairobi, Kenya, in May 1992.
