CoP 16 came to a close yesterday after a very exciting morning. Despite efforts by Japan, China, Grenada and others to reopen debates and revote on the shark proposals, voting was not even reopened as the Parties, including Republic of Congo, voted to keep regulations on the newly listed species of sharks that will be […]

Congo votes with the rest of CITES in Bangkok to protect sharks and, despite a secret ballot, declares its votes for transparency. By 2/3 majority, the oceanic white-tip shark, the porbeagle shark and three species of hammerhead were granted protected status, amongst the myriad species already listed in the Appendices of the Convention. Click here […]

First week of CITES CoP 16 (Bangkok, Thailand) coming to a close. Many subjects and species discussed and voted on, from geckos to great apes, from finance to forests. Of course ivory was a major subject of discussion, with many topics in the halls and side-events focusing on the global ivory crisis.

African forest elephant populations fell 62% in a decade, according to a study from 60 scientists, recently published in the journal, PLoS ONE. Click here for a slideshow and more information about the study.