Key indicator facts
Indicator type
Response
Applicable for national use
No
Indicator classification
Operational and included in the CBD's list of indicators
Last update
2017
Coverage
Global
Availability
Not freely available
Partners
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Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species View website > |
Contact point
Sofie Flensborg - sofie.flensborg@un.org
Indicator description
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) contains a number of legally binding provisions that Parties to the Convention are obliged to implement in their national legislation. In 1992, the Conference of the Parties adopted Resolution Conf. 8.4 (Rev. CoP15) on national laws for the implementation of CITES summarizing these obligations in four minimum requirements to the national legislation:
- Designation of national CITES Management and CITES Scientific Authority (Article IX, paragraph 1);
- Prohibition of trade in violation with the Convention (Article II, paragraph 4 and Article VIII, paragraph 1);
- Penalization of trade in, or possession of, illegally traded specimens (Article VIII, paragraph 1 (a); and
- Confiscation of illegally traded or possessed specimens (Article VIII, paragraph 1 (b)
Under the Resolution, the Secretariat is tasked with identifying Parties whose legislation does not meet these minimum requirements and place them in three Categories:
- Category 1: Parties whose legislation generally meet all four minimum requirements
- Category 2: Parties whose legislation meets some but not all four requirements
- Category 3: Parties whose legislation generally does not meet the requirements
The indicator gives a clear picture of the percentage of Parties with legislation in Category 1 out of the total number of Parties, which in turn is an indication of the level of legislative implementation of the Convention by the Parties.
Related Aichi Targets
Primary target
Target 4:
By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.
Primary target
Target 4:
By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.
Related SDGs
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GOAL 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
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GOAL 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
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GOAL 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. |
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GOAL 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. |
Other related MEAs and processes
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CITES
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CITES |
Themes
Policy & conservation actions
View related indicators >
Species
View related indicators >
Sustainable use of natural resources and land
View related indicators >
Partners
Key indicator facts
Indicator type
Response
Applicable for national use
No
Indicator classification
Operational and included in the CBD's list of indicators
Last update
2017
Coverage
Global
Availability
Not freely available
Indicator description
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) contains a number of legally binding provisions that Parties to the Convention are obliged to implement in their national legislation. In 1992, the Conference of the Parties adopted Resolution Conf. 8.4 (Rev. CoP15) on national laws for the implementation of CITES summarizing these obligations in four minimum requirements to the national legislation:
- Designation of national CITES Management and CITES Scientific Authority (Article IX, paragraph 1);
- Prohibition of trade in violation with the Convention (Article II, paragraph 4 and Article VIII, paragraph 1);
- Penalization of trade in, or possession of, illegally traded specimens (Article VIII, paragraph 1 (a); and
- Confiscation of illegally traded or possessed specimens (Article VIII, paragraph 1 (b)
Under the Resolution, the Secretariat is tasked with identifying Parties whose legislation does not meet these minimum requirements and place them in three Categories:
- Category 1: Parties whose legislation generally meet all four minimum requirements
- Category 2: Parties whose legislation meets some but not all four requirements
- Category 3: Parties whose legislation generally does not meet the requirements
The indicator gives a clear picture of the percentage of Parties with legislation in Category 1 out of the total number of Parties, which in turn is an indication of the level of legislative implementation of the Convention by the Parties.
Contact point
Sofie Flensborg - sofie.flensborg@un.org
Graphs / Diagrams
Figure 1. Percentage of Parties with legislation in the 3 different categories under CITES
Figure 2. Trend in number of parties with legislation in categories 1 (blue) and 2 (orange).
Current storyline
By December 2017, the legislation of 101 Parties out of 183 was placed in Category 1, or 55% (see figure 1 in the graphs and diagrams section).
The Conference of the Parties (CoP) takes stock of the evolution of the indication at each of its meetings (every three years). At the time of the last meeting of the CoP (September 2016), 95 Parties of 182 had legislation placed in Category 1, or 52%. It is expected that the legislation of another 5-10 Parties will be placed in Category 1 by the next meeting of the Parties (May 2019) following the past trend as illustrated in the graphs and diagrams section (figure 2).
Data and methodology
Coverage: Global
Scale: Global data
Time series available: 2009 - 2017.
Next planned update: 2018
Methodology: This is indicator is based on a count of the number of parties with legislation in Category 1 out of the total number of parties.
National use of indicator
This is a global indicator that cannot be produced or used nationally.