The Challenge

Wildlife trade can bring significant benefits to communities and governments, but over-exploitation undermines its long-term viability and the livelihoods of people who depend on it. Countries work together through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as well as other regional and national initiatives to manage the international trade at sustainable levels.

However, to achieve this, national authorities need access to accurate and scientifically rigorous information on the conservation status, management and trade levels of wildlife species. They also need capacity to undertake their own analyses of trade data. This information can be difficult to access, and national capacity to carry out assessments is often insufficient.

Our solution & impact

We work closely with governments to provide them with assessments and analyses that support their management of species in trade. We aim to ensure that national authorities have access to the best available information and the capacity to access, interpret and use relevant data. 
We provide this support in several ways:

• We review species to assess their conservation status, management methods and levels of trade. As part of the CITES Review of Significant Trade – a key process to ensure the biological sustainability of the legal wildlife trade – we undertake species assessments and identify animal and plant species that may be at risk.
• We analyse CITES trade data to identify species where further assessments may be required to ensure that trade does not negatively impact wildlife populations.
• We conduct regional analyses of wildlife trade, highlighting patterns and trends in which species are traded, which parts or derivatives are traded, and their financial value. We review EU wildlife trade annually, and have produced in-depth analyses for the Amazon region and Southern Africa
• We provide advice to the European Commission’s Scientific Review Group on the implementation of the EU Wildlife Trade regulations and on the sustainability of wildlife imports to the European Union.
• We help build capacity among national wildlife authorities to ensure that staff who manage the wildlife trade can access relevant information and undertake appropriate analyses. This includes how to make the most of the CITES Trade Database, how to identify and analyse trade trends, and how to apply data to develop more robust sustainability assessments.

Expertise & Team

Our team combines scientific and technical expertise in the diverse fields of international wildlife trade, taxonomy, wildlife management, international biodiversity conventions, data analysis and capacity building.

Project Leader Claire McLardy works with a team of experts within UNEP-WCMC that includes Liz Womack, Frances Davis, Becky Price, Aly Pavitt, Kelly Malsch, Ciara Stafford, Jennifer Mark, Oliver Tallowin, Jessica Vitale, Aude Caromel and Emma Vovk.

Claire McLardy

Senior Programme Officer

Kelly Malsch

Head of Programme

Frances Davis

Programme Officer

Aly Pavitt

Programme Officer

Liz Womack

Senior Programme Officer

Ciara Stafford

Associate Programme Officer

Jennifer Mark

Associate Programme Officer

Oliver Tallowin

Associate Programme Officer