Joint CMS-CITES African Lion Range State Meeting (Closed Meeting)

Lions, Panthera leo, are listed on CITES Appendix II, with the Asian population, Panthera leo persica, listed on Appendix I. The species is not listed on the CMS Appendices.

Lions have been under the Periodic Review process of CITES for a number of years. This process, which is led by the Scientific Committees of CITES, aims at evaluating whether species are correctly listed in the CITES Appendices and meet relevant listing criteria. Furthermore, lions are likely to be discussed at the 17^th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES (COP17), scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 24 September to 5 October 2016.

At the same time, through Resolution 11.32, Parties to CMS have decided to work towards the inclusion of lions in Appendix II of CMS, to be discussed at the 12^th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to CMS (COP12) in 2017. In the same Resolution, CMS Parties requested Range States to: review the IUCN regional strategies for Western, Central, Eastern and Southern African lion populations; consult with the CITES Secretariat on ongoing processes related to lions under CITES; and convene a meeting among Range States and experts to assess and evaluate the implementation of the IUCN regional conservation strategies. A review of the implementation of the IUCN strategies has taken place already and was shared with lion Range States that are Parties to CMS on 8 April 2016 for comments.

The joint CITES-CMS meeting will provide a unique opportunity for African lion Range States to take stock of lion conservation measures across the range and discuss a continent-wide, clear and concrete roadmap for the conservation of this iconic African species, including the listing of the species under both CITES and CMS.