Attempts by several Southern African nations to relax international trade restrictions on giraffes, elephants and rhinos have been rejected at a major United Nations wildlife summit
Attempts by several Southern African nations to relax international trade restrictions on giraffes, elephants and rhinos have been rejected at a major United Nations wildlife summit.
Countries voted down all four proposals that sought to weaken existing protections at the 20th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites CoP20) underway in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Cites provides three tiers of protection for species in international trade. Appendix I is the highest-level of protection, banning international commercial trade. Appendix II allows regulated trade while Appendix III — the lowest level of protection — covers species already protected domestically by at least one country seeking broader international cooperation.
The decisions in Samarkand mean that giraffes remain on Appendix II, black rhinos keep their Appendix I status and global bans on commercial trade in stockpiled rhino horn and elephant ivory stay intact.
The 12-day summit is considering 51 proposals spanning big cats, trees and plants, songbirds, reptiles, sharks and sea cucumbers, tarantulas and hornbills – decisions that will shape future global wildlife trade.
Tall order
Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe proposed removing Southern African populations of the southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) from Appendix II, arguing that the species is healthy and expanding in the region.
With at least 68 000 individuals, robust management systems and strong economic value through tourism, live trade and trophy hunting, the countries said their populations represent a global stronghold.
They argued that domestic regulations ensure sustainable offtakes, most trade involves low-value by-products such as hides and bones and there is no evidence of significant illegal trade.
They also rejected concerns that poached giraffes from elsewhere might be laundered through Southern Africa, calling such scenarios logistically and economically implausible, and said the 2019 Appendix II listing had created unnecessary administrative burdens without clear conservation benefits.
But the proposal failed to reach the required two-thirds majority.
Humane World for Animals South Africa noted that giraffes were only listed on Appendix II in 2019 due to high volumes of trade in bones and skins.
“The exploitation had the very real potential to threaten them with extinction and continues to put pressure on giraffe populations today,” it said. A split listing, it added, would have created enforcement challenges because bones and skins are difficult to distinguish between populations.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare agreed, describing the species’ decline as a “silent extinction”.
Its Africa director, James Isiche, pointed to “more than 1 500 trade records since giraffes were given Appendix II protections in 2019 … including trade in thousands of bones, bone carvings and skin pieces”, which demonstrates ongoing demand.
The proposal, he said, could have opened a dangerous avenue for laundering parts from more threatened giraffe populations such as the northern giraffe.
No appetite for ivory, rhino horn sales
Namibia submitted three proposals to Cites CoP20, to allow for limited and regulated international commercial trade in rhino horn and ivory derived from its populations of white rhinos, black rhinos and elephants. All three proposals were defeated.
In its ivory proposal – supported by Japan, China, Botswana and Tanzania – Namibia sought approval to sell 46 tonnes of registered raw ivory, arguing it came from natural mortalities and population management.
Proceeds, it said, would support conservation and community programmes. The government maintained that elephant populations are stable, trade would be tightly controlled and all ivory would be legal, traceable and sustainable under Cites rules.
In its proposal to trade white rhino horn, Namibia argued that despite conservation successes, rising security costs and limited financial returns have driven many private landholders to abandon rhino ownership.
“Legalised horn trade, managed under rigorous permit systems, DNA verification, and quotas, would motivate these custodians to retain and expand their rhino populations, shifting the economic balance away from poaching and toward legal, live conservation.”
The Environmental Investigation Agency welcomed the rejections as a “victory for rhinos and elephants”.
It warned that Namibia’s proposals “would have allowed international trade in its stockpiles … a move that would drive increased demand for these products and potentially unleash a new wave of poaching and illegal trade”.
Commercial trade in ivory and horn, it said, stimulates demand, fuels poaching, and undermines enforcement — and past attempts at regulated trade “have never worked”.
Historic protections for sharks, rays
In a landmark marine decision, countries voted to uplist critically endangered oceanic whitetip sharks to Appendix I, banning all commercial trade; uplist whale sharks to Appendix I; add gulper sharks, smooth-hounds and tope sharks to Appendix II; strengthen protections for several ray species; and impose zero export quotas for wild-caught guitarfishes and wedgefishes.
These decisions mark a major step in global efforts to combat illegal marine wildlife trade, said the Wildlife Justice Commission. “The global market for fins, meat, and liver oil has contributed to population declines across all species,” it said. Stronger trade restrictions, it added, help close loopholes exploited by organised criminal networks.
At CoP20, the commission presented evidence from its shark fin trafficking investigations, revealing “systematic misdeclaration of exports, the use of fraudulent permits, concealment of fins within legal shipments and persistent trafficking of requiem sharks, particularly oceanic whitetip sharks, despite their previous listing on Appendix II”.
These findings underscored the sophistication of trafficking networks and the urgent need for tighter global controls.
Top protection for the endangered Okapi
The elusive okapi – the giraffe’s only living relative – received the highest level of Cites protection with an Appendix I listing. Found only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the species faces growing threats from habitat loss, mining, armed conflict and illegal trade.
“For the people of the Ituri Forest, the okapi is more than a national symbol – it is part of their cultural identity,” said Yves Milan Ngangay of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation. “This Appendix I listing will help shield the species from trafficking networks.”
CoP20 runs until 5 December.