The scientific information summarized below has been obtained primarily from the results of a long-term research programme being conducted by the University of Michigan is to study the evolution, systematics, and distribution of all species of amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals in Madagascar. The field programme commenced in 1989 and are expected to continue to at least the year 2,000. Fifty-five major and numerous minor sites have been surveyed. Twenty papers have been published, a further 21 are in press or have been submitted to peer-reviewed journals, and many more are in preparation.

These two groups of brightly-coloured and attractive reptiles have been highly sought after by reptile hobbyists and enthusiasts in Europe and North America. More recently Japanese herpetologists have shown an increasing interest in these reptiles and Japan is becoming an important consumer country and export destination.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was adopted at a Plenitpotentiary Conference held in Washington DC in February 1973. Chamaeleo spp and Phelsuma spp were included in Appendix-II of the Convention at the Washington Conference. There is no documentation available from that time to indicate the basis for including these two genera in Appendix-II. However, given the degree of concern at the time about the rate at which many species of wild fauna and flora were becoming threatened by unregulated international trade, it is reasonable that the perceived prevalence of these reptiles in international trade and the overall similarities in appearance among the composite species were sufficient reasons to justify their inclusion in Appendix-II.

Both genera (Chamaeleo spp and Phelsuma spp) were included among those Appendix II-listed species that comprised Phase II of the significant trade review conducted by the CITES Animals Committee in 1993 pursuant to Resolution Conf. 8.9. On the basis of this review, the Animals Committee formulated the following primary recommendations, directed to the CITES Management Authority of Madagascar: