17日於日內瓦舉行的國際野生動物保育會議中，許多國際性動物保護團體遭無預警驅離。不過在當日下午進行第二輪表決的時候，這些非政府組織又重回到了會議之中。
這些團體是在華盛頓公約（CITES，瀕危物種國際貿易公約）的常設委員會中遭驅逐出場的。
當與會代表討論到大象保育、國際象牙貿易以及中國日益涉入非法象牙貿易時，亞洲地區代表科威特要求保育團體離場。
對於非政府組織是否離場的表決結果中，有七票贊成，六票反對以及三票棄權。
贊成的國家包括博茨瓦納，哥倫比亞，哥斯大黎加，多明尼加，伊朗，科威特和挪威。反對的國家則包括澳大利亞，保加利亞，剛果民主共和國，肯亞，烏克蘭，英國和美國。
第二輪投票的表決細節目前還不清楚，但結果是保育團體又重回到了會議之中。
經過一上午在大廳中的久候，吃閉門羹的民間團體表示憂心，這一決定可能成為先例，使得非政府組織和民間團體參與討論犀牛與老虎貿易等問題時，也不得其門而入。
保育組織採取了積極的行動，幫助CITES在處理受威脅物種的國際貿易問題上，達成有意義且正面的結果。此外，由於一般民眾的慷慨參與，這些團體每年貢獻數千萬美元，投注在全球幾個最脆弱的地方。
「非政府組織在有大象的地方努力，試圖從盜獵和棲地流失中，挽救這些動物。」國際動物福利基金計畫總監Peter Pueschel說道，他也是被趕出場的人之一。
Pueschel 說，「我們知道動物們受到的威脅，我們設法要結束這些威脅，但我現在想不到任何一個比這更大的威脅，就是一個由需要象牙國家的閉門秘密會議。」
進行這項秘密會議的理由，是因為要討論一份敏感的文件，但是所有的文件都以是先發佈在CITES的網站上，包含一份由大象貿易資訊系統(Elephant Trade Information System)所發表的報告。這份報告中指出，在中國與日本於2008年合法的購買象牙之後，2009與2010年間所查獲沒收的象牙量暴增。
Pueschel 說，「所有與決定象牙機制有關的討論對如何拯救大象的真正辯論都是一種干擾，」「我們已經看到一次性象牙銷售與非法象牙之間關聯的不爭事實，這項實驗已經失敗。我們現在要做的，是討論如何強化與支持對象牙的國際貿易禁令。」
世界自然基金會(WWF)的非洲犀牛協調員 Joseph Okori 博士說，「鑒於非法象牙、犀牛角與老虎製品的主要消費市場都位在亞洲，特別是中國、越南以及泰國。人們只能認為這項議案是在企圖規避適當的監督制度，如果這成為非成員國逃避公眾監督的慣用手法，CITES 將失去其作用。」
世界自然基金會在22個國家有野地大象保育工作計畫，同時包含更廣泛的措施，以解決全球非法象牙貿易。世界自然基金會也資助大象貿易資訊系統，這是一項由CITES授權推動的非法貿易監測計畫。
瀕危物種公約常務委員會由19個國家組成，被選出來作為其地理區域的代表，負責監督175個會員國的公約會議，這項會議每三年舉辦一次。
本週會議中的首要議程包含了新的金融機制、大象保育、減少犀牛盜獵問題、老虎以及其他大型貓科動物、紅木與其他樹種、鱘魚和魚子醬貿易、以及利用皮革業利用爬蟲皮革等議題。
To their shock and without warning, many of the world's largest wildlife conservation organizations were this morning expelled from an international meeting on wildlife conservation in Geneva. But a second vote at the start of the afternoon session reversed the decision and the NGOs are back in the room.
The groups were excluded from the Standing Committee meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES.
The delegates were discussing elephant conservation, the international trade in ivory, and China's increasing involvement in the illegal ivory trade, when the government of Kuwait, on behalf of the Asian region, moved to exclude the conservation groups.
The vote on whether the NGOs should be forced to leave was seven in favor and six against with three abstentions.
The exclusion was supported by Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Iran, Kuwait, and Norway. It was opposed by the Australia, Bulgaria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The details of how the second vote came about are unclear, but the result is that the conservation groups are now back at the table.
Cooling their heels in the lobby this morning, representatives of the excluded groups expressed fear that the decision could set a precedent and that such methods may be used to exclude NGOs and civil society from participating in debates on other issues such as rhino and tiger trade.
Conservation organizations have played an active role in helping CITES achieve meaningful and positive results for species that are threatened by international trade. In addition, due to the generosity of the general public, the groups contribute tens of millions of dollars each year to conservation efforts in some of the world's most vulnerable places.
"NGOs work on the ground wherever elephants are found to try and save them from poaching and habitat loss," said Peter Pueschel, program director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, who was among those asked to leave the meeting.
"We know the threats they face, we work with range states to end those threats, but I cannot think of a bigger threat right now than a secret, closed-door meeting between countries where demand for ivory is the driver," said Pueschel.
The stated reason for a closed-door discussion is that documents of a sensitive nature would be discussed. However, all discussion documents had been previously posted to the CITES website, including a report by the Elephant Trade Information System, which showed that seizures of illegal ivory soared in 2009 and 2010 after a legal sale of ivory to China and Japan in 2008.
"Any discussion of an ivory decision-making mechanism is a distraction from the real debate on how to save elephants," Pueschel said. "We've seen an undisputable link between one-off ivory sales and illegal ivory - the experiment was tried and it failed. What we need now is a discussion on how we strengthen and support an international ban on ivory."
Dr. Joseph Okori, WWF's African Rhino coordinator, said, "Given that the major consumer markets for illegal ivory, rhino horn and tiger products are located in Asia, particularly in China, Vietnam and Thailand, one can only assume that this motion was an attempt to evade proper accountability. If it becomes common practice for non-compliant countries to evade public scrutiny, CITES will cease to be relevant."
WWF has field programs in 22 countries working on elephant conservation, as well as broader initiatives to address the global illegal ivory trade. WWF also contributes financially to the Elephant Trade Information System, which is mandated by CITES to monitor trends in illegal trade.
The CITES Standing Committee is made up of 19 countries, selected to represent their geographic regions. It oversees the business of the Convention between meetings of the Conference of the 175 CITES member governments that occur every three years.
The top issues on the agenda for this week's meeting include new financial mechanisms, elephant conservation, measures to reduce current levels of rhino poaching, tigers and other big cats, mahogany and other timber species, sturgeon and caviar trade, and the sourcing of reptile skins used in the leather industry.
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