The ‘Washington’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, more commonly known as CITES, aims to protect certain plants and animals by regulating and monitoring their international trade to prevent it reaching unsustainable levels. There are more than 150 Parties to the Convention. The CITES Secretariat is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). CITES regulates international trade in over 30,000 species, of which approximately 25,000 are plants.