Four species of iguanas from the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands have received the highest protection against international commercial trade at the ongoing summit of CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n
The Gal\u00e1pagos land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus), Gal\u00e1pagos pink land iguana (C. marthae), Barrington land iguana (C. pallidus) and marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) are found only on the islands that inspired Darwin\u2019s theory of evolution. All are threatened by climate change and invasive species.<\/p>\n
Ecuador, which governs the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, submitted two separate proposals to list the land iguana species and the marine iguana on CITES Appendix I, which prohibits all commercial international trade. Both proposals were accepted by consensus, without any opposition expressed by the parties to CITES, comprised of 184 countries and the European Union.<\/p>\n
Previously, all four Gal\u00e1pagos iguanas were listed on Appendix II, meaning their legal trade was permitted, under strict import and export requirements. Recently, however, researchers found a suspicious rise in traded Gal\u00e1pagos iguanas, with export permits issued by countries where none of the species are native. Ecuador, the only country where the reptiles are found in the wild, has not issued any export permits for them, raising concerns about illegal trade.<\/p>\n
All Gal\u00e1pagos iguanas are nationally protected in Ecuador, and removing them from the wild or selling them is illegal. But these reptiles fetch top dollar on the black market from reptile collectors and private zoos, and traffickers have been caught attempting to smuggle them from the islands.<\/p>\n
CITES data show that in 2010, two Gal\u00e1pagos land iguanas and two pink land iguanas were exported from Mali to Switzerland. In 2012, Switzerland reported importing three marine iguanas from Mali. All seven individuals were labeled as \u201ccaptive bred\u201d in the export permits. From 2017-2023, Uganda reported the export of 64 Gal\u00e1pagos land iguanas, mainly to Southeast and East Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that a single notorious and long-known reptile smuggler, now based in Uganda, is the mastermind and hub for all illegal trade in Gal\u00e1pagos iguanas,\u201d Sandra Altherr, co-founder of the German NGO Pro Wildlife, told Mongabay by text message. With the current decision to list all four species in Appendix I, she said, there\u2019s a hope that \u201chis dirty business will be stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the CITES summit deliberations, Uganda expressed its strong support for both proposals, citing the need to stymie the illegal trade in the iguanas originating from the country and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s decision to uplist the endemic Gal\u00e1pagos iguanas, to Appendix I shows that countries are willing to take precautionary action in the face of increasing threats \u2014 from climate change to invasive species to illegal trade. This is exactly the kind of leadership the world needs to safeguard irreplaceable wildlife,\u201d Susan Lieberman, vice president for international policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said in a press release.<\/p>\n