Collaborative Partnership on Forests

CITES Forest_credit_pangamedia_AdobeStock_468459030

CITES Tree Species Project

Target countries: Global
Lead members: CITES Secretariat
Contributing members: FAO, ITTO, CIFOR-ICRAF, IUCN 
Timeframe: 2025–2029
Contributions to forest-related goals: All six forest goals, KMGBF Targets 4, 5, 8, 9, 21, and SDGs 12, 14, 15, 17

Objective

This initiative aims to enhance sustainable forest management and compliance with the Convention’s requirements by promoting legal and sustainable trade in CITES-listed tree species. The CTSP aims to address the illegal, unregulated and unsustainable harvesting of and trade in CITES-listed tree species, which leads to deforestation, forest degradation, and loss of biodiversity.

Main activities

The JI supports beneficiary CITES Parties to effectively regulate and ensure that trade in certain tree species of commercial significance is legal and sustainable, and conducted in full compliance with the Convention. The JI will deliver the following outputs: 

  • Direct support to member states: Selected Member States (CITES Parties) that are range States of CITES-listed tree species will receive direct support based on proposals they submit. This support will aim to strengthen conservation and management measures to ensure that trade in timber, bark, extracts, and other products from these species is legal, sustainable, and traceable.
  • Development and dissemination of supporting materials: This includes the preparation, editing, translation, and publication of strategies, guidance documents, and tools—such as taxa-specific Non-Detriment Findings (NDF) and Legal Acquisition Findings (LAF) guides, case studies, identification materials and protocols, management plans, and traceability systems. Regional, subregional, or tree taxa-specific workshops and activities will also be organized, in collaboration with CPF members, leveraging their technical expertise and experience.
  • Project development and capacity building: Activities will include the preparation of a project development guide (with a focus on sustaining results), as well as the delivery of workshops or clinics on project development, reporting, safeguarding, and management.
  • Learning and knowledge management: Knowledge-related actions will involve the development of regional briefs and tree taxonomic explanatory materials. The project will also convene information-sharing workshops—online or in the margins of CITES Plants Committee (PC), Standing Committee (SC), and/or Conference of the Parties (CoP) meetings. Furthermore, it will support the organization of and participation in relevant events to showcase the potential and actual impact of project outcomes at national and regional levels.

Expected impacts by the end of the 2025-2028 period

The project contributes to improved capacity to implement the Convention with regard to trade in CITES-listed tree species, thus supporting better forest governance across Member States (CITES Parties) and leading to a reduction in over-exploitation and illegal trade of CITES-listed tree species. This, in turn, will support efforts to reduce forest degradation and deforestation.

At the outcome level, the project aims to support:

  • Selected Member States (CITES Parties) in effectively regulating trade in CITES-listed tree species of commercial significance, ensuring such trade is legal and sustainable, and aligned with CITES regulations based on each country’s identified needs.
  • Improved compliance among selected Member States with CITES requirements for commercially significant tree species, through multi-party activities and tools developed at regional and/or taxonomic levels.

At the output level, it is expected to:

  • Strengthen the capacity of CITES Management and Scientific Authorities, as well as enforcement authorities, to effectively implement the Convention for CITES-listed tree species.
  • Increase the availability of guidance and tools to conduct Legal Acquisition Findings (LAF), Non-Detriment Findings (NDF), and enforcement activities—particularly addressing challenges related to the trade and management of CITES-listed tree species at regional, subregional, and taxonomic levels.
  • Enhance project management capacities of CITES Authorities to support effective implementation of the Convention for listed tree species.
  • Improve knowledge resources, communication materials, and events to support CTSP implementation. This includes organizing targeted events related to species conservation and biodiversity (e.g. side events at CITES Conferences of the Parties, Standing and Plants Committees, the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties, and World Wildlife Day).