The Fate and Future of the Wildlife Trade Regulatory Regimes: The Case of CITES and Rhino Horn Trafficking

Abstract

An area in which global regulatory regimes play an increasingly prominent role is the effort to protect environment. The unsustainable wildlife trade (WT) belongs among the major threats to these efforts. In this chapter, the development and current state of the WT regulatory regime, and especially CITES as its fundamental provision, are analysed. In the first part, the structure and functional mechanisms of the WT regulatory regime are described and its basic weaknesses identified. In the second part, the current dynamics of the WT regulatory regime and its triangular interactions with national restrictive regimes and international wildlife markets are discussed through the means of a case study on the trade in rhino horns. The rhino case demonstrates that, as a system of wildlife trade control, CITES fails to accurately monitor supply, particularly where trade is illegal, it fails to consider the impact of trade controls in realistic terms, and it does little to consider the complex nature of demand or contend with changing market dynamics. To more effectively manage the WT, the reforms are needed within CITES and in the sphere of interaction between CITES and local WT regulatory regimes.