Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The international wildlife trade, worth billions of dollars annually, has caused massive declines in the numbers of many species of animals and plants. The scale of over-exploitation for trade aroused such concern for the survival of species that an international treaty was drawn up in 1973 to protect wildlife against such over-exploitation and to prevent international trade from threatening species with extinction.

Known as CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, entered into force on 1 July 1975 and now has a membership of 136 countries. These countries act by banning commercial international trade in an agreed list of endangered species and by regulating and monitoring trade in others that might become endangered.

CITES' aims are major components of Caring for the Earth , a Strategy for Sustainable Living, launched in 1991 by UNEP - the United Nations Environment Programme, IUCN - The World Conservation Union and WWF - the World Wide Fund for Nature.

[information taken from the CITES homepage at http://www.wcmc.org.uk:80/CITES]