My Home Planet Podcast

As Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),  John Scanlon has to juggle the complexities, controversies and policies around trade in species world wide. This is no easy task, and with wildlife poaching at an all time high, John is happy to argue the critical importance of a body like CITES.As part of his job, John travels a lot. On and off planes he spends much of his time meeting with heads of state, royalty, local communities, NGO’s, military and an assortment of other government agencies within the 183 parties signed to the convention.In speaking to John there is little to suggest he feels weariness from his monumental tasks and the travel seems to have done little to dampen his enthusiasm for his job. Happy to have a laugh off record, he is the consummate professional when speaking about his responsibilities as the Secretary General.As the critical Conference of the Parties (CoP17) takes place later this year in Johannesburg, in this