CITES,Indigenous Peoples, and Local Communities

From facilitating high-level representation at the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) Conference in Gabon in July 2025 to targeted training workshops on CITES in Cameroon in August 2025, TRAFFIC is mobilising efforts in ensuring that IPs and LCs are able to continue shaping the future of sustainable wild species trade and conservation.

These efforts come as TRAFFIC publishes a new briefing on CITES, IPs, and LCs, reinforcing the urgent need for inclusive, equitable, and effective engagement of forest-dependent communities in this global decision-making process to ensure that trade benefits both conservation and livelihoods.

For generations, IPs and LCs have lived in harmony with nature, acting as stewards of biodiversity and forest ecosystems. In Cameroon and across the Congo Basin, communities such as the Baka, Bagyeli/Bakola, and Bedzang have developed traditional conservation practices that serve as effective, locally rooted responses to environmental threats. These practices, such as the protection of totemic species and sacred forest areas, embody Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) long before the term was coined.

Yet, despite their critical role, IPs and LCs are often excluded from decision-making processes that directly affect their lands, livelihoods, and futures. TRAFFIC contributes to changing that.

In July 2025, TRAFFIC facilitated the participation of IP and LC leaders at the CBFP Conference on Environmental Crime and Human-Wildlife Conflict in Libreville, Gabon.

His Majesty Mvondo Bruno (President of the Network of Traditional Rulers in Central Africa - ReCTrad) and Parfait Dihoukamba (Network of Indigenous and Local Populations for the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa - REPALEAC) were two leading voices who delivered powerful interventions, calling for legal frameworks that reflect Indigenous customs and for policies that place forest communities at the heart of conservation efforts.

You have decided that you can exploit, manage, or protect the forests without the forest guardians, and the result is clear: without IPLCs, it is not working, and it will never work.”

Parfait Dihoukamba (Network of Indigenous and Local Populations for the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa - REPALEAC) to Government and Forest Management OfficialsTRAFFIC also convened training workshops in Douala, Cameroon, to build IPs and LCs capacity around CITES and foster dialogue with national authorities.

Over 20 representatives from Indigenous organisations and community-based groups engaged with Cameroon’s CITES Management and Scientific Authorities, discussing listing proposals and exploring mechanisms for meaningful engagement in sustainable trade. Many of them lamented not being sufficiently aware and empowered with those processes while whilst their knowledge of the species under discussion at CITES is irreplaceable.

These initiatives reflect TRAFFIC’s commitment to ensuring IPs and LCs are not only consulted but empowered to shape the policies that affect their forests, livelihoods, and cultural heritage.

TRAFFIC continues to push for IP and LC representation in upcoming CITES negotiations, including CoP20 in Samarkand, where proposals on livelihood impacts and participatory mechanisms will be revisited. In Samarkand, we will continue to encourage Parties to consider including IPLC representatives in national delegations or accrediting them through observer organisations in future CITES meetings, allowing them to engage directly with Party delegates, respond to debates in real time, and contribute to both in-session and intersessional working groups.

Our work underscores the critical role of IP and LCs as partners in sustainable development and biodiversity protection.