WCS 3-Sentence Science

Putting the “Legal” Back in Legal Wildlife Trade

December 26, 2019

CREDIT: JULIE LARSEN MAHER/WCS

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by WCS’s Susan Lieberman on research into the circumstances under which a given natural resource may be considered legally acquired.

1. A team of researchers explored the scope of legality of so-called legal acquisition verifications under CITES.
2. They drew from the experience of the EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) process, whose understanding of legality extends beyond the scope of laws directly related to the extraction and trade of timber to include laws pertaining to environmental quality, biodiversity conservation, land tenure (access and ownership), and other considerations relevant to the long-term sustainability of trade.
3. They argue that there is much to be gained from establishing a collaborative process within CITES to develop a shared understanding of the range of laws that ought to be considered and complied with when determining legal acquisition, ultimately contributing to better implementation of CITES.

Study and Journal: “Verification of Legal Acquisition under the CITES Convention: The Need for Guidance on the Scope of Legality Journal of International Wildlife law and Policy” from Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy
WCS Co-Author(s): Susan Lieberman, WCS Vice President of International Policy

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.