Uncertainty and Markets for Endangered Species under CITES

• Author: Annecoos Wiersema
• Date: 01 November 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12047
• Published date: 01 November 2013

Uncertainty and Markets for Endangered Species

under CITES

Annecoos Wiersema

At the next Conference of the Parties in 2016, the

parties to the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species (CITES) will likely be presented

with proposals for legal trade in some of the most

iconic endangered species covered by the treaty –

elephants, rhinoceroses and tigers. This article evalu-

ates the proposals for legal trade and discusses how

the parties to CITES should approach the questions

raised by these proposals. The projections about trade

in elephants, rhinoceroses and tigers reveal deep and

multilayered uncertainty. The article concludes by

suggesting that conservation principles, sound science

and the legal mandate of CITES itself should lead the

parties to adopt a cautious approach. Trade bans

should be maintained to protect species from extinc-

tion due to trade.

INTRODUCTION

At the next Conference of the Parties (CoP) in 2016, if

not sooner, the parties to the Convention on Interna-

tional Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)1will likely

be asked by some parties and commentators to consider

authorizing legal trade in some of the most iconic

endangered species covered by the treaty – elephants,

rhinoceroses and tigers. Many of the sub-populations of

these species have been listed on Appendix I of CITES

for several years, meaning that commercial interna-

tional trade in them and their parts is banned. Yet as

CITES enters its fifth decade, some commentators are

questioning whether trade bans are the most effective

means of protecting these species and are proposing

some form of legal trade. The question of whether legal

trade or trade bans is the most effective means of pro-

tecting these species is particularly urgent because the

last few years have seen a severe escalation of poaching

in many areas.2These iconic species hover on the brink

of extinction and even traditionally well-managed

populations are feeling the threat of escalating demand.

What, then, should the relationship be between trade

and endangered species in CITES?

This article evaluates the proposals for legal trade

and discusses how the parties to CITES should

approach the questions raised by these proposals. Spe-

cifically, it explores some of the often unquestioned

assumptions made in these proposals and demon-

strates that there is great uncertainty surrounding

many of the assumptions in these arguments. Because

arguments for legal trade are based on assumptions

surrounded by uncertainty and backed up with little or

no empirical data, the article demonstrates that the

benefits of legal trade to endangered species are there-

fore both unproven and likely cannot be proven. Given

this uncertainty, the article suggests that consistency

with conservation principles and sound science should

lead parties to adopt a cautious approach that will be

consistent with the CITES mandate to protect species

from extinction due to trade. In a world of perfect infor-

mation, it would be easier to identify whether legal

trade or a ban in trade is the most effective way of

achieving that mandate. However, we do not and

cannot have perfect information. The projections about

trade in elephants, rhinoceroses and tigers reveal deep

and multilayered uncertainty. In the face of this uncer-

tainty, this article urges caution and proposes a way to

apply that caution.

CITES AND TRADE IN

ENDANGERED SPECIES

The two primary appendices for the listing of species in

CITES create an important dynamic within the treaty.

Appendix I listing is reserved for ‘all species threatened

with extinction which are or may be affected by trade’.3

For these endangered species, the Convention pre-

scribes a ban on trade ‘for primarily commercial pur-

poses’.4Appendix II listing is intended for ‘all species

1Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora (Washington, DC, 3 March 1973; in force 1 July

1975) (‘CITES’).

2Elephant Conservation, Illegal Killing and Ivory Trade (SC62 Doc.

46.1 (Rev.1), 2012), Report to the 62nd Meeting of the Standing

Committee, Geneva, Switzerland, 23–27 July 2012, found at: <http://

www.cites.org/eng/com/sc/62/E62-46-01.pdf>, at 7; S. Stoner and N.

Pervushina, Reduced to Skin and Bones Revisited: An Updated

Analysis of Tiger Seizures from 12 Tiger Range Countries (2000–

2012) (TRAFFIC, 2012), at 15; T. Milliken and J. Shaw, The South

Africa–Viet Nam Rhino Horn Trade Nexus: A Deadly Combination of

Institutional Lapses, Corrupt Wildlife Industry Professionals and

Asian Crime Syndicates (TRAFFIC, 2013), at 68–73.

3CITES, n. 1 above, Article 3.1.

4Ibid., Article 3.3(c).

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Review of European Community & International Environmental Law

RECIEL 22 (3) 2013. ISSN 2050-0386

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

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