The Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP) has recognized since 2004 that implementation of CITES-listing decisions should take into account potential impacts on the livelihoods of poor rural communities. At the most recent meeting of the CoP held in Bangkok in 2013, the Parties took a further important step through recognizing that the implementation of CITES is better achieved with the engagement of rural communities. Two important CITES resolutions on this topic have been adopted by the Parties: Resolution Conf. 8.3 (Rev. CoP13), on the recognition of the benefi ts of trade in wildlife and Resolution Conf. 16.6 on CITES and livelihoods. In addition, CITES Decisions 16.17 to 16.25 relating to CITES and livelihoods were also adopted at CoP16 in Bangkok in 2013. These decisions put forward a roadmap on how these questions could be tackled between CoP16 and the following CoP17, at the end of 2016 in South Africa. Basically, they call for the creation of a set of tools for assessing the impacts of CITES listings on livelihoods; the preparation of guidelines on the prevention and mitigation of negative impacts; and the performance of case studies, both specifi c studies on each species and thematic studies.

Authors: Van Vliet, N.; Gómez, J.; Restrepo, S.

Subjects: wildlife, livelihoods, rural communities, food security, bushmeat

Publication type: Book-UR, Publication

Year: 2016