Worldwide legal wildlife trade increased by 200%
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.