WCS is holding a virtual media briefing on Thursday, December 1^st, 8AM ET in advance of CBD CoP15 in Montreal Canada.

The following statement was issued today by WCS Vice President of International Policy Dr. Susan Lieberman as governments concluded the 19^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP19) which started here on Nov. 14 and ends today

With the final adoption of proposals to regulate the trade of requiem sharks and hammerheads as governments conclude the 19^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP19), the following statement was issued by Luke Warwick, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Shark and Ray Program:

Rare, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the launch of Solution Search: Changing Unsustainable Trade, a crowdsourcing contest to identify organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean with innovative approaches to reducing illegal or unsustainable trade of wildlife.

The Government of Mozambique approved by Resolution of Council of Ministers, the National Strategy for the Management and Conservation of Coral Reefs.

A CITES CoP19 committee has agreed by consensus to provide international commercial trade protections for all glass frogs, the family Centrolenidae, by listing them in in Appendix II. Final adoption in CITES Plenary is expected by end of week.

CITES CoP19 Parties agreed by consensus to a proposal to protect both matamata turtle species, Chelus fimbriata and Chelus orinocensis, whose populations are threatened as the turtles are prized by the pet trade. Final adoption in Plenary is expected by end of week.

PANAMA CITY, Panama (Nov. 21, 2022) -- CITES CoP19 Parties adopted by consensus to list the straw-headed bulbul under CITES Appendix I and to list the white-rumped shama on CITES Appendix II. Final adoption in Plenary is expected in the coming days.  Said Dr. Elizabeth L. Bennett, Vice President of Species Conservation for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS): “The vote to protect the straw-headed bulbul under CITES Appendix I, and the white-rumped shama on CITES Appendi...

CITES CoP19 Parties voted to list requiem sharks and hammerheads on CITES Appendix II. Final adoption in Plenary is expected in the coming days.

The following statement was issued today by Sue Lieberman, Vice President of International Policy for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), at CITES CoP19 on the role of CITES member governments in reducing risk of future pathogen spillover and potential zoonotic disease emergence associated with live wildlife trade.