In the course of the 20th century the un-sustainability of international wildlife trade became apparent. European countries play a major role in wildlife trade. One third of total wildlife imports is destined to the EU which makes EU responsible for the protection of world wildlife and should motivate the EU to be a model in biodiversity protection. Regulation of wildlife trade in the EU is discussed in chapter 1. Trade in wildlife and its derivatives is among the most profitable branches of the international trade. Animals are traded in different forms. Birds are usually traded live (for the pet trade), mammals are traded for their fur, butterflies for their bodies, reptiles for their skins, the highest value is attained by trade in fish. In some categories (live birds, caviar) EU imports more than the rest of the world combined. The EU plays a major role as an importer in other categories as well. The magnitude, value and trends of international wildlife trade are discussed in chapter 2. Profitability of the wildlife trade, strong demand for some products and imperfect implementation of CITES result in the development of illegal trade. Illegal wildlife trade is dominated by organized criminal groups that also deal in drugs and human trafficking. Illegal wildlife trade is linked to severe risks and dangers to both the source country and the recipient. More on illegal wildlife trade in chapter 3. EU imports one third of all legally exported wildlife products. It is also the importer of a majority of illegal wildlife products. Having one of the highest standards of living and seeing that the care of environment cannot be limited by political borders, the author of this thesis concludes that it is logical and imperative that the EU engages in improvement of wildlife protection in less developed countries of the world. The last chapter deals with conservation of Cameroonian Dja Biosphere Reserve and with the attempt of large EU's environmental programs to improve conservation in Cameroon.

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This diploma thesis deals with the matter of protection of feral animals against trafficing. The theme is composed for use at primary school within the framework of project teaching. The work is divided into theoretical and practical section, according to the content. The matter of CITES is expressed in the theoretical part, also the educational activities in the zoological gardens are described in this part (including the educational offer of the Zoo Ohrada) and last but not least the basic concepts for didactical aspect of the thesis are defined. The practical part includes a questionnaire studying the pupils´ attitude to animals generally; evaluation of educational activities offered by the zoological garden Ohrada (included evaluation of the commute); and the project itself. The outcome of the thesis is to check the service ability of the project in practise.

Humans’ hunting for ivory has had a serious impact of the African elephant population. Ivory has throughout history been a symbol of manhood and status. As the market of ivory expanded to the rest of the world, the market demand for ivory became higher than what the elephants could manage to provide. In the 1980’s, the African elephant population was threatened by extension and it was reduced with 50 percent in ten years. For this reason, CITES placed the African elephant population under a ban, which made it an illegal act to trade ivory and other elephant parts.

International trade in fauna and flora is curently considered as one of the greatest threats to populations of many wildlife species. According to available information, some species are declining mainly due to persecution by people for meat or for trade. Illegal trade is increasing as well. Its yearly turnover is estimated to be in the order of billions of US dollars. This diploma theses analyzes the international trade with selected bird species under the CITES Convention - Asian hornbills, African turacos, South American tukans and arassari, and pigeons and doves during the period from 1990 till 2015. Although the CITES Convention has proven to contribute to protecting biodiversity and protecting endangered species by monitoring and regulating the trade with them, it has its limitations and shortcomings. These are described in this diploma thesis on the example of some specific cases.

The thesis deals with the issue of compliance in the context of international treaties on protection of endangered species. Two important treaties are subject of the analysis - the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (known as CITES) and the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. My research focuses on the question whether member states comply with their obligations arising from the treaties. If they do not, then I look for a response to the violation such as use of compliance instruments (e. g. sanctions) and its effect on the breaching state, mainly if the response (if there was any) was successful in making the state come back into compliance. Finally, based on experience with CITES, ICRW and other multilateral environmental treaties, I attempt to design some of the new ICRW compliance mechanism features in order to increase its effectiveness.

As political debate over the overexploitation of fish stocks rages on, UBC’s Fisheries Centre is targeting the responsible management of aquatic ecosystems from multiple perspectives.