Secretary-General's statements

World Ranger Day 2017 Message from CITES Secretary-General, John E. Scanlon On World Ranger Day 2017, we join you to "stand with the park rangers of the world in their fight to protect wildlife"! 31 July 2017 World Ranger Day honours park rangers across the world who have been injured or lost their lives in the line of duty, and also celebrates the role rangers play in protecting our natural resources, including wild animals and plants.

Twenty-third meeting of the Plants Committee Geneva (Switzerland), 22-27 July 2017 Opening Remarks John E. Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General 22 July 2017 Welcome to beautiful and humid Geneva! This is the first time we have met in Geneva since 2011, with the Plants Committee having met in Dublin, Ireland, Veracruz, Mexico and Tbilisi, Georgia since that time. We are most grateful to the Government of Switzerland for making this venue available to us, where we have another 5 days of meetings ahead of us for our joint meeting and this Committee. You missed out on the beautiful sunny weather when the Animals Committee started but you also missed the problems with the Wi-Fi!

  Twenty-ninth meeting of the Animals Committee Geneva (Switzerland), 18-22 July 2017 Opening Remarks John E. Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General 18 July 2017   Welcome to Geneva on this beautiful sunny day! This is the first time we have met in Geneva since 2012, with a joint Animals and Plants Committee meeting being held in Dublin, Ireland, and meetings of this Committee being held in Veracruz, Mexico and Tel Aviv, Israel since that time.

World Economic Forum  Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2017  Dalian, China, 28 June  ‘Stemming the Surge in Illegal Wildlife Trade’  John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General, CITES  (watch the recorded live speech online)

Wildlife-based tourism is growing rapidly worldwide as the number of tourists continues to grow and as we, as travellers, seek out new and more enriching personal experiences with local cultures and wildlife. 

John Scanlon says bold action by countries like China are a major blow to elephant poachers and ivory smugglers, but the world needs to do more to tackle both supply and demand. International media and the wildlife conservation community hailed China’s announcement last year that it would close down its domestic ivory market. Some described it as a game-changer and a huge blow to elephant poachers and smugglers of ivory.

  ‘Our Oceans, Our Future’ Statement by John Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General   CITES is globally associated with elephants, tigers and rhinos – but CITES also has a long history of regulating international trade in many marine species to help ensure their survival in the wild, including clams, corals, dolphins, marine turtles, sea horses, the queen conch and whales.

  High Level Event on Illegal Wildlife Trade  German House, UN Plaza, New York  Statement by John E Scanlon, Secretary-General, CITES  6 June 2017   His Excellency, Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon His Excellency, Günther Adler, State Secretary to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety Ambassadors Distinguished Guests Friends and Colleagues ——-