Published: 12th Dec, 2020
Worldwide legal wildlife trade have increased by 2,000% since 1980, as per a latest report.
Context
Worldwide legal wildlife trade have increased by 2,000% since 1980, as per a latest report.
About
The Report
- The report has been prepared by the by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
- IPBES is an intergovernmental organisation established to improve the interface between science and policy on issues of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- It is based on a workshop, held virtually from July 27-31 2020, to review the scientific evidence on the origin, emergence and impact of the novel coronavirus disease and other pandemics.
Key-highlights of the Report
- According to the report, the international legal wildlife trade has increased 500 percent in value since 2005 and 2,000 percent since the 1980s.
- On the other hand, the estimated value of the global illegal trade in wildlifeis worth around $7-23 billion per year, equivalent to nearly 25 percent of the value of the legal market.
The warning
- Even the legal trade will become unsustainable due to:
- insufficient and inadequate regulation
- globalisation of trade routes
- lack of sufficient reporting
- links between poverty and illegal hunting
The role of CITES
- Since 1975, international legal trade in wildlife had been regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- CITES has 183 countries, including India, as its signatories.
- The report noted that CITES had been able to reduce wildlife trade, drive up value of sustainably traded species and products and promote captive-breeding, ranching or farming as alternatives to wild capture.
- However, it added that the international trade in a large number of wild species — principally fisheries and forestry resources — were not regulated under CITES, while the domestic use and trade of wildlife fell outside the purview of the Convention.
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