United Nations conservation delegates agreed last Thursday to penalize seven nations for lax wildlife measures, suspending the nations' ability to legally trade tens of thousands of species. The sanctions, which will go into effect October 1, will take place under the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and will prevent the trade of 35,000 species. Measures against Comoros and Paraguay are based on those nations' lack of laws regulating a wildlife trade, and penalties against Nepal, Solomon Islands, and Syria are based on failure to adequately report their steps to regulate wildlife trade. Sanctions against Guinea-Bissau and Rwanda are for both a lack of laws and a lack of reporting. All seven nations must enact legislation or submit their required annual report by October 1 or face the loss of millions of dollars of commerce. According to the convention, the trade accounted for almost $2.2 billion from 2006 to 2010. The lucrative nature of the trade, environmentalists say, is a big reason for nations' failure to enforce regulations. For the full story, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/27/cites-sanctions-endangered-species. For a list of species of special concern to conservationists, see http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/a-list-of-valuable-1485485.html.