EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Concerned about the overexploitation of many vulnerable species as a result of unregulated international trade, governments adopted the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973. The treaty entered into force in 1975 and now has 183 Parties.

Detailed explanation-2: -Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. CITES is an international agreement, signed by 184 parties in 1973, designed to ensure that international trade in animals and plants does not threaten their survival in the wild.

Detailed explanation-3: -CITES Contribution The CITES governs international commerce in around 35, 000 species of plants and animals, with international commercial trade generally outlawed for 3% of these species and international commercial trade controlled for the remaining 97% to ensure lawful, sustainable, and traceable trade.

Detailed explanation-4: -1. IUCN is an organ of the United Nations and CITES is an international agreement between governments. 2. CITES is legally binding on the States that have joined it, but this Convention does not take the place of national laws.

Detailed explanation-5: -Examples include gorillas, sea turtles, most lady slipper orchids, and giant pandas. Currently 1082 species are listed. They are threatened with extinction and CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial, for instance for scientific research.