Four species of iguanas from the Galápagos Islands have received the highest protection against international commercial trade at the ongoing summit of CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The Galápagos land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus), Galápagos pink land iguana (C. marthae), Barrington land iguana (C. pallidus) and marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) are found only on the islands that inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution. All are threatened by climate change and invasive species.
Ecuador, which governs the Galápagos 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.
Previously, all four Galápagos 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 Galápagos 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.
