Illegal wildlife trade has become a high-profile issue receiving global media attention, not least because of its devastating effect on populations of rhinos, elephants and other charismatic megafauna, but its impact on geckos, orchids, seahorses and numerous other species is equally alarming.
Many forms of wildlife can be legally and sustainably harvested and traded. Traditionally, much of this trade has taken place at local level, but globalisation has opened up new markets and an increasing volume of wildlife is now traded internationally. The trade takes many forms, encompassing live animals and ornamental plants, pharmaceutical ingredients, leathers, skins and furs, collectable specimens and high-value timber.
100
The number of tigers thought to have been poached every year this century for illegal trade.
20%
The percentage of Africa’s elephant population is estimated to have been lost in the last ten years.
Unsustainable exploitation
Trade becomes illegal when it contravenes environmental regulations such as government legislation and international agreements put in place to prevent over-exploitation. But it is important to note that even legal trade can be ecologically unsustainable, and regulations are regularly changed to protect wildlife endangered by a sudden spike in demand.
Industrial-scale plundering of the planet’s resources – whether it is hoovering every last shark from the world’s oceans to satisfy demand for their fins and meat, or trafficking endangered parrots and pangolins by the truckload – is clearly unsustainable. African elephant numbers have been decimated by the seemingly insatiable appetite for ivory, and rhino species worldwide have been brought to the brink by people prepared to pay a king’s ransom for rhino horn. Thriving markets for tiger bones and pelts, exotic reptile pets and luxury hardwood furniture are also taking a heavy toll.
Despite concerted efforts, illegal wildlife trade has escalated dramatically over the last decade. Human population growth, increasing wealth and access to wildlife, and improved global transport links have all played a part. In parts of Asia where the tradition of wildlife consumption is culturally embedded, demand for particular high-value species has soared. At the other end of the supply chain, rural poverty in the countries that harbour these species is driving desperate people to plunder their own natural resources for scant reward. It is the intermediaries who pocket the lion’s share of the profits; the trade is so lucrative that organised crime syndicates are now actively involved in wildlife trafficking.
Conservation interventions have historically focused on regulation by introducing new and stronger legislation and trade controls. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES for short, is a voluntary international agreement between governments. Countries that sign up to CITES – and there are currently over 180 – are legally bound to varying degrees of trade regulation for over 35,000 threatened plant and animal species. When well managed, formal licensing of wildlife trade can help to combat over-exploitation and the data collected in the process helps to inform management decisions and policy responses.
But regulation alone cannot combat illicit wildlife trade. A suite of approaches is needed including increasing our understanding of – and managing the demand for – wildlife products, engaging and supporting communities in countries where species targeted for trade are found, and addressing issues underpinning illegal trafficking such as corruption.
Poached elephant, Mozambique. © JABRUSON
Poached elephant, Mozambique.
Our work to combat illegal wildlife trade
Fauna & Flora adopts a practical, field-based approach focused on safeguarding wild populations of threatened species and preventing poaching for illegal trade. This is a complex problem, so we believe that an integrated, multi-pronged approach is needed.
We work closely with those responsible for managing many nature reserves and conservancies around the world to ensure that threatened species are well protected in the face of poaching onslaughts. We are also supporting more effective law enforcement, and working closely with all those who have a stake in – and impact on – threatened species conservation, tackling key drivers behind poaching and demand for wildlife products and increasing incentives to manage wildlife and ecosystems sustainably.
In Kazakhstan, for example, Fauna & Flora has intervened to deter the illegal trade in horns of the critically endangered saiga antelope by supporting state rangers and forming an independent enforcement team equipped with sniffer dogs.
Elsewhere, in Chuilexi Conservancy (a strategically vital area of Mozambique’s vast Niassa National Reserve), we have provided crucial support for anti-poaching patrols, resulting in a dramatic reduction in the elephant poaching that had been threatening to reach epidemic proportions.
Meanwhile, a coordinated public awareness programme combined with the tactically astute employment of former poachers as turtle guardians have helped to transform attitudes to the illegal trade in – and consumption of – sea turtles and their eggs on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua.
Between 2012 and 2016, after years of declining threat, tigers in Kerinci Seblat were the focus of a surge in illegal wildlife trade-driven poaching. National park staff and conservation agencies supported by Fauna & Flora responded by strengthening information networks to support patrol deployment while working to identify the poachers and traders driving the threat and to support law enforcement.
Our work that addresses illegal wildlife trade
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Conserving the critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkey in Vietnam
Conserving Chuilexi Conservancy within Niassa National Reserve
Conserving migrating raptors in western Georgia
Village forest conservation in Kerinci Seblat buffer zone
‘Ridge to reef’ conservation in Tanintharyi
Northern Aceh forest conservation
Forest protection in Sapo National Park, Liberia
Conserving ‘ridge to reef’ in Papua, Indonesia
Conserving Sumatran tigers in Kerinci Seblat National Park
Conserving grey-shanked doucs in Vietnam’s central highlands
Elephant conservation in Cambodia
Conserving Siamese crocodiles in Cambodia
Improving sustainable use of natural resources in Ometepe
Conserving marine turtles and priority habitats in the Nicaraguan Pacific
Conserving Black Sea sturgeon in Georgia
Addressing the decline of critically endangered saiga antelope
Protecting rosewood from illegal logging in Belize
Union Island conservation initiative
Protecting biodiversity and improving livelihoods in South Sudan
Tackling illegal wildlife trade
Asian elephant
Pangolins: One of the world’s least known and most hunted animals
A beginner's guide to ivory trade
Hornbills
Northern white rhino
Siamese crocodile
Sumatran tiger
Pangolins
Union Island gecko
Yellow-naped amazon
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Two out of three of Indonesia’s tiger subspecies have already been wiped out by poaching and other threats.
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Support usSumatran tiger. © Jeremy Holden / Fauna & Flora