Sharks win key protections at the world wildlife summit
Countries sent a definitive message about the need to protect marine species. Here are three takeaways from the global gathering.
Panama City, PanamaSharks, reptiles, and songbirds were among the hundreds of species that received new or increased global protections at a contentious two-week summit on the international wildlife trade. The meeting, attended by more than 160 countries from November 14 to 25, reaffirmed international commitments to ban cross-border sales of almost all elephant ivory and rhino horn and strengthened protections for many animals popular in the exotic pet trade.
The members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the treaty that manages the multibillion-dollar wildlife trade, considered 52 proposals to increase or decrease protections for species ranging from African elephants to Indian rosewood, among other topics.
Long-standing debates reemerged, including how to fund conservation, what
