Back in November 2022, the 19th Conference of the Parties (CoP19) to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) took place in Panama, to discuss the future of the international trade in endangered species. At the meeting, Malaysia lobbied for two proposals to respectively upgrade and add protection for two songbird species - the straw-headed bulbul and the white-rumped shama - in the wild. In a huge win for Malaysia, both were accepted unanimously, and will help against the smuggling of the two species into other countries in the region, where there are thriving songbird industries. What follow-up needs to happen now since the proposals have been accepted, in terms of supporting national laws, monitoring and regulation? We speak to Kanitha Krishnasamy, the Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, to discuss.

Image Credit: Wikimedia/Creative Commons & Flickr/Creative Commons

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