<b>The global trade of rarity</b>

The script run analyses of the Global trade of rare species of Orchids. The File is a R script containing the most relevants analyses. Data wrangling was performed using script "exploration" and "Taxonomic curation". In "orc_22", the analyses and figure's scripts to reproduce the resullts of the paper.<br><br>Novelty is highly valued in global wildlife trade, with small-range and newly described species often particularly sought-after. Yet current regulations are insufficient to trace the origin and extent of sensitive species in global trade. Focusing on orchid trade under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species-CITES between 1977-2022, we found that Colombia and Ecuador are export hubs of native species. Whilst, 705 species were never traded from their native countries, with Germany, Canada, Netherlands, and South Korea key exporters, and USA a key importer of non-native species. Single-country endemics dominate species-level trade, whilst 155 newly described species entered trade within 2-years of description. Concerningly, 248.6 million individuals have been traded under ambiguous genus- or family-level names. This highlights systematic issues hampering the transparency, traceability, and regulation of international trade, and future challenges for ensuring native range countries receive adequate compensation through Access and Benefit Sharing agreements.<br>