Advancing the science of environmental justice in the international wildlife trade pathway: summary for CITES policy makers

Context and significanceOne of the primary aims of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is to foster environmental justice by regulating international wildlife trade.The agreement aims to protect species vulnerable to extinction, peoples reliant on wildlife for their lives and livelihoods, and ecological systems worldwide (CITES n.d).Thus, CITES provides a framework for its 183 member states to jointly implement a comprehensive approach to environmental justice, which we define to include social justice, species justice, and ecosystem justice.This article serves as a summary for CITES policy makers, highlighting key findings, observations, and recommendations arising from the Frontiers in Conservation Science's Research Topic, Advancing the Science of Environmental Justice Along the International Wildlife Trade Pathway.The summary is intended to empower CITES parties to more deliberately and strategically mainstream environmental justice in CITES policies and procedures.For the first time, conservation scientists were invited to contribute to a collection of transdisciplinary research, perspectives, and case studies meant to inform development of an environmental justice framework serving international wildlife trade scientific inquiry, policy, and planning.In the spirit of environmental justice, manuscript publication fees were sponsored through a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Life on a Sustainable Planet initiative.This facilitated a unique wealth of contributions from scientists, veterinarians, and natural resource managers typically hindered by publication costs.It brought the conceptual conversation to the ground and the frontlines of environmental justice challenges in international wildlife trade.The voices in the collection primarily arise from scholar-practitioners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Reaser et al., 2025).