The CITES Convention and trade in animals and plants

There is also close cooperation between CITES and TRAFFIC, a non-public alliance between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with offices in five continents, which has the objective of fighting wildlife trafficking by research, analysis of conservation problems, advising policymakers, informing and assisting local, regional and national authorities and supporting remedial action through training, capacity-building initiatives, technical advice and proposals for practical solutions. TRAFFIC supplies the CITES and its parties with data and analytical research, draws attention to trends in wildlife trafficking including the need to concentrate some efforts on this or that region or this or that species.

The CITES closely cooperates with the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) in order to ensure that international trade in the CITES-listed timber species is consistent with their sustainable management and conservation. Several trees - such as ebony, mahogany, cedro, rosewood, agarwood, sandalwood, or palisander - are listed in the CITES Appendices, and the joint activities of the CITES and ITTO aim at improving local knowledge and management of such trees, help national, regional and local authorities to develop programs for a sustainable management of the species, identify loopholes in the management systems and advise on possibilities of stopping illegal timber logging.

Apart from its cooperation in ICCWC, INTERPOL is also active in the area of wildlife trafficking. It found that a significant proportion of wildlife crime is carried out by organised criminal networks which see in the low risk and high profit possibilities of these types of crime an attractive way of making money. Wildlife trafficking often occurs, INTERPOL is convinced, hand in hand with other crimes such as passport fraud, corruption, money laundering and murder.

INTERPOL leads operations to dismantle the criminal networks, using police investigation methods. It elaborates international law enforcement best practices manuals, guides and other resources. It makes its tools and services available to the environmental law enforcement agencies and assists in developing and shaping strategies and directions to combat illegal wildlife trade. It set up an international Wildlife Crime Working Group which initiates and leads a number of projects to combat the poaching, trafficking or possession of legally protected animals or plants.