This article was originally published in ILM September/October 2025.

Reptile leather is renowned for its aesthetics, durability and, most recently, its sustainability qualities. The latter accolade offers a unique response to some of the planet’s most pressing challenges, like climate change and food security. But this strength comes at a cost. Ensuring the responsible sourcing of reptile skins across diverse landscapes and remote supply chains requires extraordinary governance. To help ensure that reptile leather is sourced in a way that maximises benefits and minimises risk, a variety of regulatory frameworks have been established. This article explores these multifarious and sometimes poorly understood structures in more detail.

International Trade Controls

Because the reptile skin trade involves wild animals, governance typically begins with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – the world’s oldest and largest global conservation network. Established in 1948, the IUCN includes over 1,400 organisations and more than 18,000 scientists. One of IUCN’s key functions is to assess the conservation status of species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species categorises each species based on a range of attributes, including trade-related threats. Categories range from “least concern” to “extinct”. The Red List serves as a critical tool for conservation planning and therefore plays an important role in determining risks of trading certain species.

The IUCN works closely with CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Established in 1973, CITES embodies an international agreement between governments aimed at ensuring that global trade in wild species does not threaten their survival. It regulates the import and export of species through a system of permits and certificates. Species are listed in three appendices based on the level of protection they require (Appendix I, II, or III).

CITES also makes provisions for Stricter Domestic Measures, allowing countries to enhance oversight through the inclusion of national policies and frameworks. In effect, the IUCN supplies the conservation science and sustainable use guidelines, CITES applies the legal and regulatory framework, and then its up to the countries themselves to implement those “rules” in their national context. Between the IUCN and CITES, international conservation monitoring and control measures have oversight of all reptile species traded internationally for their skins.

National Trade Controls

While the IUCN and CITES provide overarching guidance and frameworks, the responsibility of implementation and enforcement falls primarily on national governments. Each country adopts and enforces specific laws to regulate, monitor and control the reptile trade within its borders. Most countries have one or more wildlife-centric acts that detail relevant national laws and legislature. Acts are typically administered by government agencies or departments, and these appoint dedicated CITES Scientific and Management Authorities to assist in ensuring sustainable trade. Some national legislative frameworks focus primarily on protecting threatened species, but most adopt a more holistic and balanced approach that includes support for the sustainable use of natural resources. Most countries include specific laws that ensure alignment with international agreements, such as CITES and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Standards and Certifications

Voluntary standards and certifications play an increasingly important role in further verifying the integrity of wildlife-based raw materials. Two membership-based organisations and a number of other initiatives have been established to help improve the operating environment of the reptile skin trade.

International Multi-stakeholder Association for Reptile Conservation (IMARC)

The Responsible Reptile Sourcing Standard (RRSS) is managed by the International Multi-stakeholder Association for Reptile Conservation (IMARC). Version 1.0 (June 2023) was developed through public consultation in accordance with ISEAL standards. It outlines requirements for the highest standards of sustainable sourcing of snake and lizard skins. The RRSS is applicable globally and covers both farming systems and wild harvests. The core aims and principles include responsible business practice, animal welfare, social responsibility, and environmental responsibility.

The RRSS uses a multi-tiered assessment framework with categories that range from Critical Requirements through to voluntary actions that have no bearing on core certification but have important impacts on sustainability and global good. For example, it rewards excellence in cross-cutting initiatives that help to address climate change resilience and biodiversity conservation in vulnerable landscapes and communities. IMARC has developed a bespoke traceability app (Reptile Trade Monitor available via Google Play and Apple App Store) that works in conjunction with CITES compliant tags to facilitate scientific monitoring and real-time traceability of individual skins.

International Crocodile Farmers Association (ICFA)

The International Crocodilian Farmers Association (ICFA) is a global coalition of alligator and crocodile producers dedicated to certifying farms to the highest standards of animal welfare, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. ICFA’s science-based protocols address key areas such as animal health and behaviour, environmental performance and labour practices.  Certification requires passing independent third-party audits and inspections, and providing credible, verifiable assurance that farms meet or exceed international benchmarks. Each skin is traceable via a CITES-compliant, tamper-proof serialized tag, ensuring full supply chain transparency. For customers, ICFA certification offers confidence that sourcing is backed by rigorous oversight and accountability at the farm level.

Other initiatives

Some companies have developed additional measures to ensure best practices. Luxury conglomerate LVMH, for example, has developed the Sustainable Reptile Conservation Program (SRCP). The SRCP is built around three cornerstone standards to ensure responsible sourcing of reptile skins: legal and traceable procurement, welfare focused farming and conservation minded environmental stewardship. Through independent audits and a fully traceable program, the SRCP ensures that crocodilian farms owned by LVMH not only respect legal and welfare obligations, but also contribute positively towards biodiversity conservation. With the advances being made by ICFA and IMARC, many smaller industry initiatives are now being phased out in favour of standardisation at an industry-wide and global scale.

Towards a more sustainable future

Regulating the trade in reptile skins is not without challenges. Weak enforcement, corruption and limited resources for surveillance are realities throughout much of the remote landscapes where reptiles are most abundant. Collection of reptiles often occurs in areas of high biodiversity and, although mostly a legacy issue, illegal trade still persists in some cases. Lack of coordination between countries and agencies, and inadequate penalties, further hinder effective regulation. At the finer scale, limited data on harvesting impacts and ecosystem health can hinder effective management. Informal or traditional practices may lack proper documentation, and ensuring fair benefit-sharing with local communities while preventing overharvesting can further add to the difficulty of ensuring compliance.

Nevertheless, these challenges are not uncommon in most raw material supply chains, even within mainstream agriculture. Over the last decade, organisations like IMARC and ICFA have invested heavily in systematically addressing these issues. Year-on-year improvements have been significant, and a continuous development approach that includes AI-assisted training and the employment of state-of-the-art traceability technologies have made the certification systems some of the most advanced of any value chain.

As the intermingled shadows of climate change, resource deficiency and pandemics continue to threaten livestock systems around the globe, the relative importance of the reptile trade is likely to increase. Consumer demand for nature-based materials is growing, and responsibly-sourced reptile leather will continue to shape the future of sustainable fashion. Through industry collaboration, government support and consumer advocacy, our knowledge and understanding has never been greater – and perhaps so too the allure of reptile leather has never shone brighter.