Raising Local Community Voices: CITES, Livelihoods and Sustainable Use

Trade in wild resources contributes to the livelihoods of many rural people and communities, particularly the poorer people in developing countries. Livelihoods are central elements of many strategies for conservation based on sustainable use of wildlife. This article surveys CITES' formal engagement on livelihoods, including decisions adopted at the recent sixteenth Conference of the Parties (CoP16). It then draws on examples from debate at CoP16 to illustrate that in practice, livelihood concerns have considerable relevance to CITES parties' decisions on listing species in the Appendices. It goes on to discuss several issues arising from this, and concludes that there are clear arguments for CITES decision making (including listing in particular) to more clearly and consistently address the impact of decisions on rural communities (including through enhanced participation of rural communities themselves), both for their own sake and because these impacts will often influence the eventual conservation success of CITES decisions.