m It is an international agreement between

governments
m It was conceived in the spirit of international co
operation to safeguard certain species from
overexploitation
m It was drafted as a result of a resolution
adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources)
 CITES (Convention on International Trade of
Endangered Species of Wild Flora & Fauna) regulates
the removal of species from the wild conditions and
trade across international borders .CITES Appendices
are of 3 Categories (I, II, III)- Appendix I lists the
threatened species, Appendix II includes those which
are vulnerable and Appendix III includes species
which require close vigil. The CITES Appendices are
periodically revised at the conference of the parties and
the species are also shifted from one Appendix to
another or deleted as required, depending on the
situation.
Other International Organization for Biodiversity
Conservation are:
m IUCN (International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources)
m Species Survival Commission (SSC)

m TRAFFIC (Trade Record Analysis of Flora and

Fauna in Commerce)
m Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
m World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
m World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC)
m Widespread awareness about endangered
status of prominent species such as tiger and
elephant.
m Outcome of international discussions of
regulation of wild life for conservation
m Realizing the fact that international wildlife
trade is to be worth billions of dollars &
include hundreds of millions of plants &
animal specimens
m Overexploitation of certain species
m The text of the Convention was finally agreed at a meeting
of representatives of 80 countries in Washington DC.,
United States of America, on 3 March 1973, and on 1 July
1975 CITES entered in force. The original of the Convention
was deposited with the Depositary Government in the
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages,
each version being equally authentic.
m CITES is an international agreement to which States
(countries) adhere voluntarily. States that have agreed to be
bound by the Convention ('joined' CITES) are known as
Parties. Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties ²
in other words they have to implement the Convention ² it
does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a
framework to be respected by each Party, which has to
adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is
implemented at the national level.
It is an organization to provide leadership and
encourage partnership in caring for the
environment by inspiring, informing, and
enabling nations and peoples to improve their
quality of life without compromising that of
future generations
The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP and is located at
Geneva,Switzerland. It has a pivotal role, fundamental to the Convention and its
functions are laid down in Article XII of the text of the Convention. They include:
mplaying a coordinating, advisory and servicing role in the working of the

Convention;
m assisting with communication and monitoring the implementation of the
Convention to ensure that its provisions are respected;
marranging meetings of the Conference of the Parties and of the permanent
Committees at regular intervals and servicing those meetings (i.e. organizing
them, preparing and circulating meeting documents, making necessary
arrangements for delegates to attend the meetings, providing advice and support,
etc.);
mproviding assistance in the fields of legislation, enforcement, science and
training;
mundertaking, under agreed programmes , occasional scientific and technical
studies into issues affecting the implementation of the Convention;
mmaking recommendations regarding the implementation of the Convention
The Standing Committee provides policy guidance
to the Secretariat concerning the implementation of
the Convention and oversees the management of
the Secretariat's budget. Beyond these key roles, it
coordinates and oversees, where required, the
work of other committees and working groups;
carries out tasks given to it by the Conference of
the Parties; and drafts resolutions for consideration
by the Conference of the Parties
These committees of experts were established
at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the
Parties (Ottawa, 1987) to fill gaps in biological
and other specialized knowledge regarding
species of animals and plants that are (or might
become) subject to CITES trade controls. Their
role is to provide technical support to decision-
making about these species.
The species covered by CITES are listed in three appendices,
according to the degree of protection they need.
!

 
Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade
in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional
circumstances Eg: Bovidae Antelopes , Canidae Bush dog , giant
panda , volcano rabbit , stinkwood , woolly lemurs.etc
Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with
extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to
avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.Eg Cyathea O
@
 
, Ursidae
!


This Appendix contains species that are protected in at least one
country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in
controlling the trade. Eg. ! tilope cervicapra (Nepal)
The core administrative costs of the Secretariat, the
Conference of the Parties and its subsidiary bodies, the
Standing Committee and the other permanent committees,
are financed from the CITES Trust Fund. This Trust Fund is
replenished from contributions from the Parties to the
Convention based on the United Nations scale of
assessment, adjusted to take account of the fact that not all
members of the United Nations .Any activity that is not
funded by the Trust Fund requires funding from external
sources. These externally funded projects or activities are
usually derived from Resolutions and Decisions adopted at
the meetings of Conference of the Parties.Besides funds
coming from Governments, non-governmental and inter-
governmental organizations and companies are also sources
of external funding for CITES projects.
CITES works by subjecting international trade in
specimens of selected species to certain controls. All
import, export, re-export and introduction from the
sea of species covered by the Convention has to be
authorized through a licensing system. Each Party
to the Convention must designate one or more
Management Authorities in charge of administering
that licensing system and one or more Scientific
Authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on
the status of the species.
 CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild
Flora & Fauna) regulates the removal of species from the wild conditions
and trade across international borders.
 CITES Appendices are of 3 Categories (I, II, III)- Appendix I lists the
threatened species, Appendix II includes those which are vulnerable and
Appendix III includes species which require close vigil. The CITES
Appendices are periodically revised at the conference of the parties and
the species are also shifted from one Appendix to another or deleted as
required, depending on the situation.
 Roughly 5,000 species of animals and 28,000 species of plants are
protected by CITES against over-exploitation through international trade.
They are listed in the three CITES Appendices. The species are grouped in
the Appendices according to how threatened they are by international
trade. They include some whole groups, such as primates, cetaceans
(whales, dolphins and porpoises), sea turtles, parrots, corals, cacti and
orchids. But in some cases only a subspecies or geographically separate
population of a species