At CITES Conference At Year-End, US Will Make History By Proposing Zero Upgrades In Status For Trafficked Wildlife

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These “Conference of the Parties” (CoP) discussions, held once every three years, will convene from Nov. 24 to Dec. 5 in Samarkand. They offer an opportunity for the world to rein in the unsustainable, multibillion-dollar wildlife trade, both legal and illegal. For species like the elephants, rhinos, tigers and numerous others, trade is the greatest threat to their long-term survival.

The United States has traditionally been a leader in conservation, affording and securing protections to species at risk, including those exploited by trade. But this year, the country’s role seems to have weakened as a leader at CITES: It has sponsored only four proposals for consideration at the upcoming CoP, the lowest in the last 10 CoPs — 25 years. In total, 51 proposals are up for discussion to regulate or ban the international commercial trade of wildlife and its products. For the first time, none of the U.S.-backed proposals support “uplisting species,” affording them greater protection from trade.

The U.S. played a vital role in creating CITES and in making it work. The convention was born following a conference at the Department of State auditorium in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 1973 — now celebrated as World Wildlife Day — when delegates from more than 80 countries convened to put an end to unsustainable trade in wild plants and animals. This followed a decade of meetings with countries in Africa battered by elephant and rhino poaching, led by American ecologist Lee Merriam Talbot, who was also the architect of the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

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With only four proposals and none that uplists species to afford them greater protection from trade, the U.S. seems to have abandoned its leadership role. “It’s a disappointment,” Lieberman said. “The U.S. has co-sponsored nothing that increases protection. I wish it were true that nothing needed protection, but that’s not the case.” Chris Shepherd, a senior conservation advocate with the U.S.-based NGO Center for Biological Diversity, is also concerned. “The U.S. has always been a strong, supportive player in CITES and a real leader in a lot of conservation issues within the CITES framework,” he said.

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https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/us-proposes-zero-new-protections-for-traded-wildlife-at-upcoming-cites-cop/