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- - People’s Trust for Endangered Species was set up in 1977 to save our wildlife. We are governed by a board of volunteer trustees and our team of staff are passionate about protecting endangered species and places.
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Wildlife
- Close
- - We protect wildlife in Britain and around the world by bringing our most threatened species back from the brink of extinction. We do this through ground-breaking research, practical conservation and education, all with the help of our supporters.
Wild places
- Close
- - Some habitats contain such a richness of life that we need to protect them at all odds. We are working to preserve ancient woodlands, orchards and wood pastures and parklands, as well as the countless species they support.
What we do
- Close
- - Everything we do is based on scientific evidence. We gather this through surveys, which you can take part in, and by awarding research grants to the most inspiring scientists worldwide. This evidence guides our conservation efforts and is shared through our events and publications.
Who we are
- Close
- - People’s Trust for Endangered Species was set up in 1977 to save our wildlife. We are governed by a board of volunteer trustees and our team of staff are passionate about protecting endangered species and places.
Success stories
- Close
- - We strive to bring our most threatened species in the UK and around the world back from the brink of extinction. Our successes come from ground-breaking research, practical conservation and education, all with the help of our supporters.
Get involved
- Close
- - There are so many ways you can help save endangered species. Fancy taking part in a survey, joining us on a wildlife event or becoming a regular supporter?
Shop
- Close
- - Support our work in our shop with a range of charity gifts, home-ware, cards and more. 100% of the profits go directly to help wildlife both in the UK an overseas.
Donate
- Close
- - There is nothing natural about the alarming rate at which we are losing animals and their homes. It is absolutely avoidable. We can stop the loss of our wildlife – but we need your support. You can act now by choosing to give to our cause. Thank you.

Fighting the seahorse trade in Vietnam

We have funded a ground breaking study to protect millions of seahorses.

Monitoring illegal trade

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a vital international tool that can be used to ensure that trade in wildlife does not threaten wild populations. It’s a complicated issue because sometimes listing a species as the most threatened status can backfire. Appendix 1 is for species that are so endangered that any trade in them is forbidden. Unfortunately that often pushes the trade underground and it’s impossible to monitor. It can be a better strategy to list a species on Appendix 2. That means a country is obliged to monitor wild populations and regulate exports to ensure that trade is sustainable.

S Sometimes CITES member countries that are obliged to regulate their trade in particular animals do not fulfil their obligations. In a precedent-setting move, CITES decided in 2013 to ban exports of a seahorse species from Vietnam for just this reason; it was the first such global ban for any marine fish under any international agreement. PTES gave funds to pioneering wildlife organisation Project Seahorse, to support the government of VietNam in moving its trade toward sustainability. Project Seahorse has led all CITES work on seahorses for 20 years and also acts as the hub for the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group.

Gathering evidence

Trade survey findings were worrying, but also highlight the importance of working with countries where trade in various wildlife species is high, to ensure that they get it right. The team at Project Seahorse carried out 146 interviews across eight provinces to gather information how many seahorses are still being fished, many as by-catch; to learn more about the captive breeding trade and their biology.

16.7 million seahorses were caught in one province in just one year

According to CITES data two-thirds of live trade between 2005-2014 went to the USA, 11% to France. Many fishers reported a decline in the number of seahorse they were catching, and also a decline in the size of animals, which could reflect a dwindling population. Numbers are worrying: evidence from the southernmost province, Kien Giang suggested that 85% of the total national catch is fished in that region with roughly 16.7 million individual seahorses reportedly caught there each year. And even though there is a growing development of the aquaculture trade, which aims to reproduce the seahorses in captivity, thereby removing the pressure from the wild population, they still depend on wild caught parents to produce the young.

A brighter future

Although these figures all seem alarming, it is important to have this information to hand to begin to tackle the problem. Now that Project Seahorse has collected all the evidence, it will be working with the Vietnamese authorities to help them fulfil their duties under the convention and address this worrying trade.

Thank you for helping us fund this vital fact-finding work, ensuring seahorses have a future in Vietnam.

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