Introduction In 1973, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was drawn up in an attempt to ensure that international trade of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival (UNEP, 5). In a broader sense, CITES aims to promote species conservation. At the time of its inception, there was no existing agreement to regulate wildlife trade for conservation and many species such as leopards, or tigers were nearing extinction due to trade (IUCN, 12). International cooperation is necessary to prevent trade from threatening the survival of plants and animals as many plants or animals are exported from one country for consumption in another. CITES lists over 35 000 species on a series of appendices giving them varying levels of protection by trade measures (IUCN, 6). As the threat to different species changes, species are added to or moved between different appendices. Since CITES is an agreement which is continually updated, it does not contain any specific goals. Rather than containing specific goals and quantifiable targets, CITES seeks to protect endangered and threatened species from international trade threatening their survival by continually adapting and adding new species depending on their vulnerability at the time. …show more content…
One of the factors that makes CITES as an agreement successful is its international important and the fact that it has many signatories. Since the problem of endangered species trade is an international one, “The success of CITES is undoubtedly due to its ability to enable action on international commitment” (Johnston, 8). Another reason that CITES has remained successful and relevant for over 40 years is because of its ability to continually add different species to the appendices, increasing the scope of its protection (Tilford,
Wildlife conservationists are constantly working to supervise the rivers, forest, and other natural resources of Africa in order to preserve and protect them through prudent management. In Kenya, laws against trophy hunting has assisted these conservationists in maintaining wildlife populations. However, park rangers face a huge battle against the illegal poaching of these rare trophy animals, such as lions and elephants. In Asia, the demand for ivory continues to surge, despite the long-time ban on its international trade. The demand is so high that the Tanzanian government has developed plans to construct a commercial highway through the Serengeti in order to more efficiently trade goods with Asia (“The Need for Serengeti Watch”). However, the highway will also provide a faster route to the coast for ivory smugglers. The controversy surrounding the highway and its positive or negative effects on the economy, Tanzania as a whole, and the Serengeti is countless. Despite the debate over its benefits and...
Mr. Middleton, a journalist, compiled an article describing, in his opinion, the flaws of the Endangered Species Act. He then attempts to back his opinion with studied analyses, researched facts, and testimonies. To summarize Middleton’s (2011) perspective, “Rather than provide incentives for conservation and environmental stewardship, the Endangered Species Act punishes those whose property contains land that might be used as habitat by endangered and threatened species” (p. 79). This quote is broad and generalized yet draws in readers and forces Middleton to spend the rest of the article backing this statement with more logic based facts.
The Pacific Northwest is the home to several different species such as: rats, mice, beavers, opossums, bears and more. These animals inhabit this place as means for their living, finding food, and survival. The Pacific Northwest is composed of the western United States portion which is composed of: California, Canada, Oregon and various other states. Much of this region is composed of various plants and seedlings, which most of these animals feed off of. The animal I will focus on primarily is the mountain beaver. I will discuss their identification, range, habitat, food habits, reproduction, behavior, and how to prevent the damage that these rodents cause us humans.
Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
CITES, or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is an international agreement between governments to ensure international trade of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of those species. According to its website, it was first conceived in 1973 and “accords varying degrees of protection to more than 35,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs.” Nature reserves and parks in Asia are not performing satisfactory in their protection of the animals within their grounds. With inadequately patrolled borders, poachers and other criminals sneak in and lay out trap lines and hunt in the only places where these animals are thought to be protected. Hidden away from the outside world, these parks are emptying of their most important residents. Locations in between countries that may have laws specific to poaching are ripe with crime. These so called “border towns” are empty of law enforcement or regulators of any sort. Here, sellers and buyers of endangered products are free to go about their business with no fear of consequence. In the year 2003, 581 leopard skins and 31 tiger skins were seized on the China–Nepal border (Nijman and Shepherd). Even what laws are in place are not enough to deter these
The Convention on Biological Diversity (hereafter: “CBD”) is an international treaty adopted by United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 and came into force on December 29, 1993. Initially when it came into force there were 168 members now it is 193 in total. The aim to protect biodiversity and the dramatic steps taken for conservation, sustainable use and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits attracted the world communities to become members (History of the Convention, n.d). In principle the convention on biological diversity changed the ownership concept of biodiversity protection i.e. (“common heritage of humankind”) to the “sovereign right” of each member country (Hirsch, 2012). It is the responsibility of the each member to develop and implement policies in a way that helps in the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources. It also recognizes the knowledge of local and indigenous people for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (Brahmi et al., 2004).The article 8(j) of CBD has an important provision which gives the member state rights to “respect, preserve and maintain” traditional style and knowledge about the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The protection must promote the wider application of such knowledge and stimulate innovation and also ensure that the benefits are shared in fair and equitable manner to the communities.
Performing triage using the weighted ranked value system with elements of the other forms of triage outlined in this paper would be the best conservation method since it would factor in the many different complexities of conservation. Having low costs and a high chance of recovery being weighted more would increase the number of species saved in a similar way to Wilson et al.’s triage by time and cost. Having a rank system would also allow keystone species and others that are more important for biodiversity to be ranked higher as well. If the goal of conservation and triage is to preserve biodiversity, then those species should be at the top of the list since
In 1966, Congress passed the Endangered Species Preservation Act, a piece of legislation designed to provide limited protection to a list of native animal species. The Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Defense were responsible for the protection of these species and the preservation of their habitats. It also allotted land to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help maintain these natural habitats. In 1969, the Act was amended because further protection was necessary. With the threat of worldwide extinction, the amendment called for an international meeting and cha...
.... Some animals face endangerment because of human’s hunting activities and because of the climate changes. Due to the endangered rare species, people solve this problem by bringing these animals back to their natural habitat.
In the world where people live in is an enormous responsibility but also the greatest gift that people need to cherish and protect. The human race needs to step up and voice not only their concerns, but the concerns of all the animals endangered or not. Any species which fall into the categories vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered are considered to be at risk of extinction. {Robert Redford} said “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security defense of our resource’s because it’s just as important as defense abroad otherwise what is there to defend?”
At Rio several key global plans were initiated: Agenda 21 (a manifesto for development for the twenty-first century), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Framework Convention on Clima...
The whole process leading to forest destruction is clearly at odds with the international community's commitments to protect biodiversity and to counter climate change and desertification, agreed upon in three legally-binding conventions. At the same time, it also violates human rights commitments, including the protection of indigenous peoples' rights, and the commitments agreed upon at the 1995 Social Summit and the 1995 Conference on Women.
At present, of the 150,000 protected areas across the world, just 3% are in the oceans. As countries introduce measures to improve protection, it is important that the governments and the environmental agencies select sites for regulation.”(Schofield 834-836). This states that the government should improve their ways of assisting in care for the endangered species, but it is still quite expensive for them to do so. Well just how good are researchers doing in keeping up with all the
In our world today we have approximately 26,021 endangered species. Endangered species are organisms that may possible become extinct. The term 'endangered species' refers to all species that fits this description. However some conservation biologists and scientists normally use the term ‘endangered species’ to refer to species that are put on the IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature)Red List. Many factors can be looked at when considering the conservation status of a species. Factors such as human threats or environmental threats can cause a species to become endangered.