Species conservation

Although animal welfare and species conservation have a lot in common, the two areas are regulated in separate laws and should be strictly separated from each other from a legal point of view. There is no federal act on species conservation and all relevant provisions can be found in various federal laws, such as the Nature and Cultural Heritage Protection Act and its corresponding ordinance. Also, there are provisions regarding species conservation in the hunting and fisheries laws.

Due to the transnational nature of species conservation, Switzerland is also a party to several important international species conservation conventions. The Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is of major importance in this respect. It regulates the international trade in rare, endangered and threatened species, covering not only live, but also dead specimens, parts and products thereof. In Switzerland, the CITES requirements are implemented through the Federal Act on the Trade in Protected Animal and Plant Species (BGCITES) and the corresponding ordinance.

The relevant laws as well as some international conventions can be found on the German version of this page.