SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan – Nov. 24, 2025 – WCS’s Vice President of International Policy Dr. Susan Lieberman delivered an urgent call-to-action yesterday evening during the High-Level Dialogue on the eve of the opening of the 20th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Invited to speak alongside governmental ministers and other high level officials from around the world, Lieberman stressed that decisions taken at CoP20 will be pivotal for wildlife threatened by unsustainable trade, climate change, habitat loss, and ecosystem degradation. She urged CITES Parties to stand firmly with science, apply the precautionary principle, and recommit to multilateral cooperation.

During the dialogue, Lieberman joined global ministers in highlighting the solutions needed to ensure that the trade in flora and fauna is legal and sustainable, consistent with international obligations. She emphasized that effective action under CITES is essential to protect ecosystems, uphold community rights, and maintain ecological integrity across the planet.

Lieberman also underscored WCS’s more than 125 years of scientific and conservation expertise, noting the organization’s work in over 50 countries with governments, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, academia, and other partners to advance the protection of wildlife and wild places.

Below is the full statement delivered by Dr. Susan Lieberman:

Thank you very much, CITIES colleagues, and friends.

I'm deeply honored to have been invited to speak by the organizers and the government of Uzbekistan today.

I'm also very thrilled to be back in Samarkand.

If you don't know WCS, we work in more than 50 countries with our partners, including governemtns (including here in Central Asia), Indigenous Peoples, academia, local communities, and others. We provide scientific, technical input, and we work with our partners on the ground for the conservation of wildlife and wild places.

We've been doing this work for more than 125 years. Our positions here at CITES are based on the knowledge and the experience of our scientists and experts around the globe.

CITES is a conservation treaty that deals with the threat of trade, but there are many other threats. If we can combat trade, as well as the threats of habitat loss, habitat deterioration and climate change—we can give species a chance.

It is vital to remember the precautionary principle. When in doubt, act in the best interest of the species. The data may not be perfect, but for species such as the okapi, hyena, iguana, eels, saiga, sharks, and others under consideration at this meeting, it's clear what is needed to curb the harmful impacts of trade. We need to give species a fighting chance.

Governments must be able to properly manage the trade and have the resources and the political support—so they can be assured through sound science that trade is not only legal and biologically sustainable, but also does not harm local communities or their cultural heritage. In our experience, in many countries, Indigenous Peoples and their cultures, their tenure and their rights are often harmed by the taking of their wildlife for international trade.

On a personal note, this is my 14th CITES COP, and I've been doing this 38 years. There are species in the wild and ecosystems that are functioning because of decisions taken by the CITES Parties and actions to implement those decisions. I can only speak on behalf of my organization, but I know many other NGOs would agree: Please consider precaution and science, and provide the needed protection at this meeting to sharks, rays, okapi, eel, hyenas, and so many more species.

Today, in times of economic crisis and political pressures, I urge you to stand up for wildlife and to stand up for multilateralism. To governments in the Global North, I know it's hard, but we urge you to prioritize funding for biodiversity. We appreciate many statements made thus far. That includes funding for implementing, enforcing, and complying with CITES.

To governments in the Global South, I know it's hard as well. We urge you, and we commit to work with you, to protect your patrimony, to protect your rich biodiversity, and prioritize getting the science right, and to prioritize compliance.

Of course, our planet, all species, and humanity need functioning, resilient, high integrity ecosystems on land, fresh water, and in the ocean for the sake of our planet, our health, and our future.

In conclusion, all of us at WCS wish you a successful COP, renewed commitment to conservation, and renewed commitment to the core principles of multilateralism.

Thank you very much.

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