The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) conference in Bangkok has wrapped up with several key agreements in ending the trade in endangered species.

CITES member nations agreed to restrict the commercial trade in sharks and manta rays.  Some estimates say as many as 100 million sharks are killed every year, just for their fins.  The harvest is rapidly killing off shark populations.

The trade in turtles and tortoises is being limited, as is trade in hundreds of species of endangered hardwoods including Thai rosewood.

Thailand kicked off the conference by pledging to end its domestic ivory trade, which critics say gave cover to poachers who killed African elephants and smuggled the tusks to Asia for “legal” sale.