Cooperation and partnerships

 

 

The strategic positioning of the Convention with other organizations, instruments and processes is critical to its successful implementation, as reflected in Goal 5 of the CITES Strategic Vision. Cooperation efforts undertaken to implement Goal 5 fall into four clusters, namely:

  • Cooperation on biodiversity –the Biodiversity Liaison Group and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements
  • Cooperation on enforcement – the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime
  • Cooperation on the environment – the United Nations Environment Management Group
  • Thematic cooperation at a technical level

The CITES Secretariat has a formal relationship with the organizations listed below, but works closely with a wide number of entities on specific issues and projects.

Resolutions and Decisions

 

Topics

Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework

The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the "Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework" (GBF), including four global goals for 2050 and 23 targets for achievement by 2030. The CITES Strategic Vision: 2021-2030 adopted by Parties to CITES includes an objective of ensuring the recognition of the importance of achieving CITES’ aim as a contribution to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Further, Parties have agreed to encourage their Management Authorities to communicate with their national Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) focal points to seek to ensure CITES aims are reflected in the outcomes of their domestic processes to develop contributions to the post-2020 biodiversity framework.
 
The Standing Committee will, inter alia:
  • consider areas of alignment between the CITES Strategic Vision 2021-2030 and the Kunming-Montreal GBF and its monitoring framework;
  • explore options consistent with the CITES Strategic Vision to strengthen cooperation, collaboration and synergies at all relevant levels between CITES and the GBF, taking into account the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals; and
  • make recommendations to the 20th meeting of the Conference.

Cooperation on biodiversity –the Biodiversity Liaison Group and other MEAs

 

The Liaison Group of Biodiversity-related Conventions(BLG) currently comprises the heads of the secretariats of the eight  biodiversity-related conventions: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), CITES, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), working with CITES on a joint programme, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR), the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the World Heritage Convention (WHC). The Group’s aims are to explore opportunities for collaboration and increased coordination, and to exchange information within an agreed Modus Operandi.

Beyond the BLG, the CITES Secretariat also collaborates with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and with the Ozone Secretariat (see MoU here), with the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Cooperation on enforcement – International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC)

ICCWC is the collaborative effort by the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the World Customs Organization (WCO)working to bring coordinated support to the national wildlife law enforcement agencies and to the sub-regional and regional networks that, on a daily basis, act in defence of natural resources. The CITES Secretariat chairs the alliance. Click here for the Letter of Understanding between ICCWC and the CITES Secretariat.

Cooperation on the environment – the United Nations Environment Management Group

The Environment Management Group (EMG) is a United Nations system-wide coordination that furthers inter-agency cooperation in support of the implementation of the international environmental and human settlement agenda. It identifies issues on the agenda that warrant joint efforts, and finds ways of engaging its collective capacity in coherent management responses to those issues.

At a technical level, the CITES Secretariat co-chairs the MEA Information and Knowledge Management Initiative that develops knowledge and information tools for MEA Parties and the environmental community. See www.informea.org

Thematic cooperation at a technical level

The CITES Secretariat has a working relationship with several organizations on areas of common interest, for instance:

  • trade with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on BioTrade and ASYCUDA, and with the Green Customs Initiative;
  • sustainability with the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW);
  • marine species with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP);
  • tree species with the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF);
  • safety and welfare standards with the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH - signed on 1 March 2024), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA); and
  • illegal wildlife trade with INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force,the UN Task force on Illicit Wildlife Trade and Forest Products, the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) of the United Kingdom and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Other Resolutions and Decisions

  • Resolution Conf. 18.5 on Cooperation and synergy with the World Heritage Convention
  • Resolution Conf. 18.4 on Cooperation with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
  • Resolution Conf. 16.5 on Cooperation with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the Convention on Biological Diversity
  • Resolution Conf. 14.4 on Cooperation between CITES and ITTO regarding trade in tropical timber
  • Resolution Conf. 13.3 on Cooperation and synergy with the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
  • Resolution Conf. 13.2 (Rev. CoP14) on Sustainable use of biodiversity: Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines
  • Resolution Conf. 12.4 (Rev. CoP18) on Cooperation between CITES and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources regarding trade in toothfish
  • Resolution Conf. 11.4 (Rev. CoP12) on Conservation of cetaceans, trade in cetacean specimens and the relationship with the International Whaling Commission
  • Resolution Conf. 10.4 (Rev. CoP14) on Cooperation and synergy with the Convention on Biological Diversity

Decisions

  • Decisions 19.22 & 19.23 on Cooperation with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
  • Decision 18.55 on Cooperation on the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus ponticus)
  • Decisions 18.59, 18.60 (Rev. CoP19), 18.61, 19.24 & 19.25 on Joint CITES-CMS African Carnivores Initiative
  • Decisions 19.26 & 19.27 on International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC)
  • Decisions 19.28 & 19.29 on IPBES assessment on the sustainable use of wild species