Secretary-General's statements

The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP16) held March 2013 in Bangkok, will be remembered as a defining moment in the 40 year history of the Convention

Thematic discussion on the challenge posed by emerging forms of crime that have a significant impact on the environment and ways to deal with it effectively Vienna, Austria, 23  April, 2013 John E. Scanlon Secretary-General CITES Thank you Ambassador Mabongo, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates. I would like to sincerely thank the Commission for holding this Thematic Discussion and for extending an invitation to the CITES Secretariat to contribute to its deliberations. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to Executive Director Yury Fedotov for his  strong personal support for, and commitment to, combatting wildlife and forest crime and that of his staff as well.   ------

The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP16) held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 3-14 March 2013, took decisive action to tackle the disturbing spike in the illegal killing of the African elephant and rhino and smuggling of their ivory and horn, which is the focus of this article

The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP16) held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 3-14 March 2013, took decisive action to tackle the disturbing spike in the illegal killing of the African elephant and rhino and smuggling of their ivory and horn, which is the focus of this article. Parties also took significant decisions on other species being pressured by illegal trade, such as Asian big cats, great apes, pangolins, freshwater turtles and tortoises, certain timer species and the Tibetan antelope, as well as deciding to request a study of the legal and illegal trade in wild cheetahs, and to assess the impact of this trade on the species' conservation in the wild. Expert advice on the crisis confronting elephants and rhinos

With numbers as low as 2,000 in 1973, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed, the population is now more than 19,000. More than 90 percent of these animals are in South Africa as a result of both public and private management efforts, for which CITES provides a framework.

Bangkok, Thailand, 3 March 2013 Your Excellency Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra Chair of the CITES Standing Committee, Øystein Størkersen Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner Distinguished delegates Colleagues Sawasdee krup.  Welcome. It is a great pleasure to be here in the beautiful and vibrant City of Bangkok and we express our deep gratitude to the Kingdom of Thailand and its people for the extraordinary generosity in hosting this critical meeting.  Prime Minister, it has been a real joy to work with your ever courteous and highly professional staff both here and in Geneva as we have prepared for this event.

Illegal trade in wildlife has now reached a scale that poses an immediate risk to wildlife and to people. Over the past five years, we have seen a dramatic spike in the poaching and illegal trade in elephants and rhinos. In 2011 an estimated 25,000 elephants were poached across Africa and in South Africa alone 668 rhinos were lost to poachers in 2012.

at an event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of CITES 13 February 2013, Palais des Nations, Geneva   Click to see photos from the event Director-General, Excellencies, CITES authorities, friends of CITES.