New Songbird Trade related publication in the journal Biological Conservation, October 2025
Global trade in bird species monitored by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) declined significantly in the mid-2000s, a trend
previously attributed to the 2005 EU import ban on wild birds. However, during 2005-2007 the global bird trade did a massive dip due to global bird-flu scare! Prior research analyses suggesting that the EU bird import ban was a conservation success did not account for Ghana’s 2007 removal of 114 bird species from CITES Appendix III, one of the largest deletion events in the history of CITES. In our study we analyzed trade data of CITES-listed species and non-CITES-listed species (including U.S. imports and global songbird trade data) to assess the effects of this deletion on reported trade patterns, examining changes in trade volumes as well as taxonomic and spatial shifts. Before their removal, deleted species comprised 70.7 % of global bird trade reported in the CITES Trade Database. After 2007, no deleted species were recorded in CITES data anymore. But our research have showed that the trade picked up again but was now “invisible” because authorities no longer documented the trade of the now un-listed birds in the CITES databases, while US imports of these species increased fourteenfold, new markets for African birds unfolded throughout Asia as well as illegally into the EU after 2006 peaking in volume between 2009 and 2014.
Our findings suggest that the EU ban contributed less to reducing global bird trade than previously reported, with Ghana’s deletion playing a major role in reported trade trends. We highlight the importance of considering changes in CITES listing, including deletions in wildlife trade research and underscore Appendix III as a tool for restricting and monitoring trade in species where unsustainable trade is a concern.
Therefore, CITES Appendix III listings really matter as source of information to understand the real scope of the wildlife trade and its effect.
Jacqueline Jürgens, Johanna Staerk, Simon Bruslund, Rikke Oegelund Nielsen, Dalia A. Conde,(2025) CITES Appendix III matters: Hidden impacts of CITES deletions on global bird trade, Biological Conservation, Volume 310, 2025, Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111365.
