The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) aims to protect wild flora and fauna from threats posed by international trade. A paper from the Overseas Development Institute looks at the scope for the parties to CITES to commit themselves to linking conservation initiatives with measures to address rural poverty. It argues that it is time to give teeth to the belated, and still largely rhetorical, recognition that international conservationist goals must go hand in hand with a commitment to poverty reduction.