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Global biodiversity conventions and bodies

The international conventions and bodies that govern biodiversity, on trade in wildlife, migratory species, genetic resources and global targets, and the assessments that report on the state of nature. Prelims has asked about the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and about which international agreements bear on biodiversity.

UPSC has asked

  • Prelims 2014: international agreements that have a bearing on biodiversity

9 Sep 2026 · 8 Sep 2026 · Prelims and Mains

CITES and the IUCN Red List

Both cases turn on two international instruments that are easily confused, one of which binds a government and the other only reports how a species is faring.

  • The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species binds its parties to control trade across their borders, and each country then needs a law of its own to act inside them.
  • The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List grades how close a species is to extinction, from Least Concern to Extinct, and carries no legal force of its own.
  • A species can be Least Concern and still be protected strictly, because a trade listing answers how heavily an animal is traded rather than how rare it is.

UPSC has asked

  • Prelims 2015: the IUCN and CITES

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