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Amongst those people, on the front lines of this fight, are researchers, like Jordi Janssen and his colleagues at the Monitor Conservation Research Society. The Monitor Conservation Research Society is an organization, founded by Dr. Chris Shepherd, that aims to use research<\/strong> as a tool for improving legislation and regulation of the illegal and unsustainable trade of species. They specifically wish to use their research to shed light on little-known species that are threatened by human activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jordi Janssen is a researcher and PhD student, from the\nNetherlands, who specializes in the illegal trade of reptile species. Reptiles\nare sought after in the illegal market as pets, but also for the sale of\nreptile skins and for use in traditional medicine. He worked as a consultant\nfor the organization TRAFFIC before joining Monitor and he has published many\nscientific articles that illuminate the impacts of illicit trade and\nexploitation of animal species by humans. According to Jordi, researching illegal\ntrade can be exciting, but also extremely complex and frustrating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven if it is\nobvious that certain animals are being smuggled or illegally traded, it\u2019s quite\noften difficult to prove that.\u201d – <\/strong>Jordi Janssen, Monitor Conservation\nResearch Society Researcher<\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to the shrouded nature of illegal markets, it can often\nbe very difficult to obtain accurate data on the species and numbers of animals\nthat are being captured, smuggled, and sold. The people who are involved are\nunlikely to be willing to share their personal knowledge of the trade for fear\nof incrimination. This means that researchers like Jordi need to use a diverse\nrange of research methods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of this work involves using case studies and\ndescriptive research to get the word out about issues like captive breeding,\nillegal trade, and legislation. Other times researchers are forced to spend\ntheir time browsing shady websites and infiltrating exotic pet markets, that\nare suspected of trading in threatened and endangered species, in order to find\nout what species are being offered and at what price. Field work can involve\nundercover investigations of pet shops and markets where research is not\nwelcome and, depending on the species, this can be dangerous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDepending on where you go you get to see a lot of things that are not pleasant to see.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Jordi Janssen<\/p>\n\n\n\n International trade in plant and animal species is regulated\nby the CITES convention. CITES stands for Convention on the International Trade\nof Endangered Species. This is an international trade agreement between over\n180 countries with the goal of preventing trade from threatening the survival\nof species. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CITES regulation works through three categories or\nappendices. Appendix I regulates species that are threatened with extinction\nand almost all trade in these species is completely banned. Most animal species\nare designated under Appendix II, which covers species that are not threatened,\nbut commercial trade needs to be regulated so that these species do not become\nthreatened in the future. Species designated under Appendix III are protected\nin at least one country and this country needs international assistance in\norder to control trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the modern world, CITES regulation is extremely important\nfor conservation, because there is so much money involved in the illegal trade\nof threatened species. Greedy people risk their freedom to find ways to smuggle\nand trade species despite this regulation. When these criminals find out that a\nparticular species is scheduled for CITES regulation, especially complete\nbanning of trade, they work even harder to capture and smuggle the species. They\nknow it will become more valuable in the illegal market. One example of this is\nthe case study of the Earless Monitor Lizard that Jordi Janssen researched in\n2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Earless Monitor Lizards are a remarkably beautiful species\nof lizard that live on the Island of Borneo which is part of Indonesia,\nMalaysia, and Brunei. They look like baby dragons and they are sometimes\nreferred to by reptile collectors as \u201cthe Holy Grail of Herpetology\u201d. Little is\nknown about the conservation status of this species. It is not listed on the\nIUCN Red List due to the lack of data on their population size and geographical\nextent. According to Jordi, however, a group of researchers that are working to\nlist the species have recently submitted an analysis of the Earless Monitor\u2019s\nconservation status. Unfortunately, the IUCN listing process is very time\nconsuming and, in the meantime, the Earless Monitor Lizard is being heavily\nsought after in illegal trade markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 2018 paper, Left hung out to dry: How inadequate international protection can fuel trade in endemic species – The case of the earless monitor,<\/em> Jordi Janssen and his co-author Kanitha Krishnasamy of the Southeast Asia branch of TRAFFIC argue that, in situations like that of the Earless Monitor Lizard, where there is inadequate enforcement and international protection, species should be preemptively listed under Appendix III prior to Appendix I proposals.<\/strong> This would require trade permits to accompany individual animals that are being traded and allow the international community to aid in the enforcement of illegal trade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore,\nthis Appendix III listing would not provide as great of an incentive for\nillegal animal smugglers to capture the species in the wild, because unlike\nAppendix I, trade would not be completely banned. This concept is very important\nfor the conservation of all species, not just animals but plants as well, that\nare traded illegally around the globe. Jordi and his colleagues at Monitor\nConservation Research Society are working hard to communicate this\nrecommendation to the governments\nand stakeholders involved with deciding CITES legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jordi described the problem by saying that the trade of\nEarless Monitors was banned in the three range states, Indonesia, Malaysia, and\nBrunei, however the species kept turning up in places like Europe, Japan, and\nthe United States. These countries never issued trade permits for these\nanimals, however, illegal reptile dealers covered themselves by claiming the\nanimals were bred in captivity. In 2015, at the 28th<\/sup> meeting of the\nCITES Animals Committee, the Malaysian Government proposed that the Earless\nMonitor Lizard be listed under CITES Appendix I despite a recommendation from\nthe TRAFFIC organization to list them under Appendix III prior to that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This proposal lead to an increased demand for the species in\nthe illegal market and while the convention tried to decide how to proceed, the\nspecies increasingly began to surface in online trade. Due to the lack of CITES\nregulation, authorities who encountered the species outside of the range states\nhad no legal grounds to seize the animals. The lizards were hidden amongst\nshipments of other reptiles and once they were outside the borders of their\nhome country no one could protect them. Eventually the Earless Monitor Lizard\nwas listed by CITES under Appendix II, but for the animals already sold into\nthe illegal market, this was too little\ntoo late<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Monitor Conservation Research Society\u2019s Website is linked below, as well as the article on the Earless Monitor Case Study and Jordi Janssen\u2019s twitter profile, where he shares herpetology articles, updates on illegal wildlife markets, and seizures of illegally traded animals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.mcrsociety.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S2351989418303986<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/bmosher1-fieldherp\/files\/2020\/07\/Assing_2-rotated.jpg\")
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