Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Dec. 5, 2025 – As the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20) concluded, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) welcomed a series of landmark decisions that will strengthen trade regulations for threatened species—including many heavily targeted by the global pet trade—while also warning that several decisions could jeopardize hard-won conservation gains.

WCS delegates from across the globe brought decades of scientific and policy expertise to Samarkand, working to ensure that Party decisions were grounded in rigorous, evidence-based conservation science.

Sharks!

Among the most significant conservation outcomes, Parties adopted historic protections for more than 70 species of sharks and rays, including the uplisting of oceanic whitetip sharks, whale sharks, and all manta and devil rays to Appendix I—effectively prohibiting their international commercial trade. Similar protections to halt legal trade via ‘zero quota’ measures were offered to the most threatened families of sharks and rays—the wedgefish and giant guitarfish—prized for their high value fins. Several additional shark species received new Appendix II protections, ensuring their trade will be regulated allowing only legal and sustainable trade. These decisions, far stronger and more sweeping in terms of support than those adopted by CITES in the past, recognize sharks as iconic marine wildlife in need of protection, offering an unprecedented lifeline to some of the world’s most imperiled marine species.

Okapi

Governments also agreed by consensus to prohibit all international commercial trade in the Endangered okapi, listing the species on Appendix I. WCS and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) welcomed this action as an essential step toward safeguarding one of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s most iconic species.

Iguana

Parties likewise agreed by consensus to protect Galápagos land and marine iguanas, now also listed on Appendix I, prohibiting their international commercial trade. They have never been legally exported from Ecuador, the only country in which they are found in the wild, and are subject to illegal exports and trafficking for the high-end collector trade.

Elephants

The long-standing international ban on international commercial trade in elephant ivory was reaffirmed.

Pet Trade

The meeting delivered stronger safeguards for numerous species targeted by the pet trade, including two gecko species from Australia, two species of sloths from Central and South America, and a Central African monkey, helping to close loopholes that have fueled unsustainable—and often illegal—trade for global markets.

Disappointments: Proposals on Saiga and Eeels

However, WCS expressed concern over several outcomes, including the decision to allow international commercial trade in saiga horn from Kazakhstan, even though with quotas and monitoring of trade and stockpiles. WCS Mongolia, which has long partnered with the Mongolian government to protect a unique and vulnerable endangered population of saiga found there, had asked Parties to reject the allowance of trade in saiga horns. WCS also expressed disappointment that Parties declined to provide Appendix II protections for Anguillid eels, missing a critical opportunity to strengthen enforcement and reduce trafficking of juvenile eels, which are visually indistinguishable across species and heavily exploited by illegal trade networks. WCS and its New York Aquarium team conduct research in New York City’s Bronx River to protect the American eel.

Dr. Susan Lieberman, WCS Vice President of International Policy, said:
“CITES CoP20 demonstrated the power of global cooperation when governments choose science and decisive action over inaction and extinction. The sweeping protections adopted for sharks and rays, the historic Appendix I listing of the okapi, the elevation of Galápagos marine and land iguanas to Appendix I, and new measures to protect species targeted by the global pet trade show what is possible when Parties unite to ensure that international trade does not contribute to the demise of species.

“The okapi decision is especially meaningful. We congratulate the DRC government and our long-standing partners at ICCN for their leadership and decades of tireless work to safeguard this remarkable species. Appendix I listing will reinforce national protections and help block trafficking networks that threaten the okapi’s survival.

“Also receiving Appendix I listing were the Galápagos marine and land iguanas. At WCS, we partner with the Government of Ecuador and local stakeholders to conserve the archipelago’s unique biodiversity, and the CoP20 decision is a major step toward ensuring these iconic species endure into the future. This listing, and that of several other endemic species (found only in one country), and a new process to draw attention to endemic species, highlighted increased awareness of trafficking for the global pet trade, particularly in endangered endemic species.

“At the same time, we are deeply disappointed that Parties agreed to reopen saiga horn trade from Kazakhstan under large-scale quotas. A single bad trade decision can undo decades of conservation work. This move is risky, and premature. The recovery of the saiga in Kazakhstan is a welcome conservation success story, but the safeguards needed to prevent laundering, illegal trade, and heightened market demand simply are not in place. These quotas could send the wrong signal to consumers, undermine enforcement, and place smaller populations—especially in Mongolia—at severe risk. We hope CITES will not look back at the next CoP and face a devastating reversal for saiga, and we commit to working with all Parties to prevent that outcome.

“Another concerning outcome was that Parties failed to give trade protections to all species of eel. At a time when eel populations are declining around the world and trafficking networks are expanding, this inaction is worrying. Without Appendix II protections for the entire genus, enforcement officers remain unable to distinguish legal from illegal shipments of juvenile eels—opening the door to continued laundering and further depletion of already threatened species, such as the American eel, recognized by IUCN as Endangered.

“We congratulate Senegal for advancing a strong, science-based One Health resolution, and appreciate the support of many countries to address the risk of pathogen spillover from wildlife trde. Although we are disappointed that Parties ultimately rejected it, these efforts underscore the urgent need to address zoonotic risks associated with wildlife trade—especially in a post-COVID world.

“The truth behind these victories and failures is sobering: CITES is needed most when species are on the brink of extinction, or rapidly heading toward it. We celebrate these new listings and the commitment of governments here to multilateralism. Clearly, we would prefer that no wildlife populations are over-exploited and traded illegally for commercial trade, and are stable enough to never require such interventions. Implementation of these decisions remains paramount.

“WCS, which works in more than 50 countries, will work with governments and other partners to ensure the decisions taken at this meeting, including the new trade protections, are fully enforced, monitored, and supported so they deliver the conservation impact they are designed to achive.”

Luke Warwick, WCS Director of Shark and Ray Conservation, said:
“Few moments in wildlife policy match the scale of what happened at CITES CoP20 for sharks and rays. Widely supported Appendix I protections for the world’s most threatened sharks and rays, measures that have been needed but thought of as politically impossible, is nothing short of historic. We may look back on this moment as the turning point that pulled sharks and rays back from the brink. The world finally met the scale of the crisis with action to match it.

“This action belongs to the Parties who championed these protections. Countries across Latin America, Africa, the Pacific, and Asia came together in a powerful show of leadership and solidarity, passing every shark and ray proposal tabled for the CoP—over 70 species in total.

“These decisions could not be more urgent. Sharks and rays are the second most imperiled group of animals on the planet, and many are running out of time. They are vital to the functioning of ocean ecosystems worldwide. Today’s votes give them a real chance at recovery. The world chose action over extinction, and we must carry this momentum into swift equitable and impactful implementation at a country and coastal community level.”

CITES CoP20 brought together. more than 3,000 participants from hundreds of countries in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for the world’s only intergovernmental forum on how trade affects wildlife in the wild. Over two weeks, Parties considered 51 proposals and more than 100 documents, aimed at ensuring that global trade does not threaten species in the wild. The meeting delivered both landmark protections and contentious decisions that will shape the future of international wildlife conservation. As biodiversity loss accelerates, CoP20 underscored the essential role of CITES in determining which species receive the urgent safeguards needed to prevent irreversible decline.

The next CITES CoP will be in Panama.