This document is intended to contribute to the completion of Decisions 18.186-192 and support the AC working group on West African vultures in fulfilling its mandate, with a particular focus on the six West African focal species and on the two threats highlighted in Decision 18.188: trade for beliefbased use and sentinel poisoning. It provides the following: a global overview of legal and illegal international trade in vultures (according to the CITES Trade Database, CITES Illegal Trade Reports, and incidents recorded in TRAFFIC International’s Wildlife Trade Portal); in-depth reviews of the biology and distribution of the six West African focal species; an overview of the scale of threat posed by domestic and international trade in vultures as well as sentinel poisoning in West Africa ; an overview of the legislation relevant to vulture management in place in West African countries; and a suite of recommendations for consideration by the AC working group.