Coming to you from the 20th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, (.CITES CoP20) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, we pull back the curtain on one of the most powerful, and most misunderstood, global environmental conventions: CITES, the body that decides the wildlife trade rules for the entire planet.

In this kickoff episode from CITES CoP20, we sit down with Zimbabwe’s Environment Minister, Dr. Evelyn Ndlovu and the CITES Secretary General, Ivonne Higuero, to unpack the global wildlife trade rules shaping elephants, ivory, rhinos and more.

From powerful interventions against the “stepwise approach,” to Africa’s push for fair, science-based decisions, we break down why CITES matters for communities living with wildlife, and why elephants remain the biggest political animal in the room.

This is The Conservation Conversation…. clear, African, and unapologetically real.