The rules controlling the trade in many at-risk wildlife species may change at a Bangkok meeting starting on Saturday.
The 166 member states of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (Cites) will gather for the meeting.
Delegates must decide the degree to which charismatic creatures such as the great white shark and the African elephant can be exploited commercially.
The Thai meeting, the 13th of its kind, has some 50 proposals to work through.
Other important decisions at the 12-day summit will affect the minke whale, which Japan believes is now numerous enough to be hunted for food; and the ramin timber tree, a tropical hardwood which conservationists say is coming under extreme pressure from legal and illegal logging.
Levels of protection
There is a sizeable lobby at this particular meeting that wants improved protection for a large reef fish known as the humphead wrasse, which is regarded as a delicacy in many Asian restaurants.
Cites, which was signed in 1975, operates a classification system, in which threatened animals and plants are placed in one of three appendices.
Appendix I contains those species whose existence is so threatened that all trade is banned (except in exceptional circumstances). About 400 plants and about 600 animals, including the great apes, fall into this category.
Appendices II and III allow controlled trade. The former works under a system of permits.
It is to Appendix II, for example, that many nations with the support of environmentalists would like to elevate the humphead wrasse. And Australia and Madagascar are also pushing for similar protection for the great white shark.
The trade in wildlife is worth billions of dollars a year and the Cites meetings are usually marked by a clash of interests, ideologies and cultures.
Different ways
Some believe that the only means of conserving endangered animals and plants is to outlaw their exploitation altogether.
Others think conservation would be better served if a sustainable trade was allowed to raise funds for better management programmes - with the African elephant often cited as the classic example of where this practice should operate.
It is with this intention in mind that Namibia will seek permission to sell two metric tons of elephant ivory per year. Both Namibia and South Africa would also like to trade some elephant leather.
Similarly, Swaziland believes the revenues raised from a limited trade in white rhino products, and allowing some trophy hunting, would pay for improved protection measures for the species.
Commentators say the Bangkok meeting will be interesting for the focus it will bring on the region as a hub for both legal and illegal trade in wildlife products.
Campaigners would like to see the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) economic bloc bring in better enforcement of wildlife laws.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/3709256.stm