WASHINGTON — Environmentalists praised wildlife protections included in the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal announced Monday, calling them groundbreaking.

They said the pact would strengthen international environmental enforcement agreements and could go a long way toward diminishing the illegal trade in certain plants and animals.

Those measures represent a major breakthrough on one of the most divisive issues in the contentious trade negotiations, as well as a significant victory for the Obama administration, which had pushed for strong environmental provisions against the objections of most other countries involved in the 12-nation deal.

“The provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership go beyond what we have seen in other trade agreements,” said David McCauley, senior vice president for policy and government affairs at the World Wildlife Fund, which was among several advocacy groups that had worked closely with the administration on the final language. “We see this as a very big deal.”