SADC moves to start legal wildlife trade outside CITES
Friday, December 06, 2019

From the soil: SADC countries are fighting for the right to set their own conservation agendas
The states dismissed the CITES voting process and reinforced their position that the UN agency’s trading rules are “tainted, rigged and not free and fair.”
After the 18th CITES conference voted to block the SADC countries from trading in specific animals in August, some of them recently officially filed reservations with CITES to ignore the vote, a dramatic action the CITES treaty permits. The SADC states have declared that they would not abide by the CITES restrictions that are detrimental to conservation and development in their countries.
With both sides entrenched in legal battles and public spats, the risk to public health, trust in institutions, and the welfare of doctors grows by the day. It's time for cooler heads to prevail. The government and BDU must return to the negotiating table, not with threats, but with a shared commitment to resolve this crisis fairly and urgently.At the heart of this dispute lies a simple truth: doctors aren't just employees but guardians...