Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress is being made on reducing international trade in endangered species.

The UK is an active Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates trade in over 35,000 species. Trade prohibitions are imposed where they are needed to conserve the long-term survival of a species and commercial trade in the most endangered is generally prohibited. For those where trade is allowed, this is subject to strict regulation and monitoring to ensure that it is sustainable.

The UK has also played a leading role in galvanising international action to combat the illegal wildlife trade, including of ivory. We hosted the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014 and actively supported the Government of Botswana in its hosting of a follow-up Conference in Kasane in March 2015. The Review of Progress prepared for that Conference, available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/415690/review-progress-kasane-conf-150317.pdf, contains information on action being taken by countries and international organisations to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.