People always ask me, “what do you do?”
And I say, well, I am a conservation scientist, and I specialize in wildlife crime.
This is followed by bemused looks, raised eyebrows, mouth agape… “So wait, wildlife crime, what is that?”, “Are you an investigator?” “Wow, so you work with the police?” And so, I begin my story.
In 2011, I went back to study, and did my thesis research on illegal wildlife trade, at that time, still a very unknown and definitely not openly discussed topic, I was interested in trying to understand the dynamics of illegal wildlife trade in Indonesia, and the role of traders and consumers. I was always told that it wasn’t really a conservation issue and told to be a bit more mainstream.
Well firstly, I am not mainstream, I definitely don’t follow the norms, and as I always say, when you are passionate about something, follow your heart.
So I did…
In 2005, when I took my leap of faith of leaving the corporate world behind, sell my car and belongings, rent out my place and buy a year long ticket to explore South America, a bucket list continent, I signed up to volunteer at a wildlife rescue center in the heart of the Amazon Basin in Bolivia. But never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that rescuing pumas from the illegal wildlife markets, rehabilitating them with the mission of releasing them back into the wild. I would run with them through the jungle, running with them on a long lead, machete in hand to cut through the thick, dense rainforest in my Wellington boots (p.s this stuff would definitely not be considered OHS approved!). This was the start of my illegal wildlife trade journey, that has then took me to Borneo, Indonesia, to also work in combating the illegal wildlife trade of orangutans, poached and often abused, as they were found in fragmented habitats between jungle and oil palm plantations. Never would I imagine that I would end up working in this field and become a knowledge expert in an area that for so long, never received the attention it so deserved…until now.
Wait, so what exactly is the illegal wildlife trade? How does it work?
Illegal wildlife trade is the exchange of wild animal and plant resources. It is ranked as the 4th most profitable trade after arms, drugs and human trafficking, estimated to be worth between USD $23 billion reaching up to USD $200 billion+ (when including illegal timber trade) annually, according to the United Nations and World Economic Forum, it is a threat to biodiversity, global biosecurity, and human health. It does not only impact well known species such as elephants, rhinos and sharks, but many marine and terrestrial species, vertebrates and invertebrates.
Much of the large-scale trade is covert, with wide underground international trade chains involving organized criminal networks, making it difficult to fully identify the global scale and impact. With the speed of technology providing easy access to global markets, it is allowing traders to avert the law and reap the financial rewards at a huge global economic, environmental and health and safety cost.
OMG. Why is there a demand for illegal wildlife?
If you’ve seen the Netflix documentary Tiger King, you may have an insight into how human interaction with endangered wildlife has been normalized. Social media exacerbates the problem, leading people to believe that this kind of association and socialization is normal by taking selfies with captive (often taken from the wild) wildlife. Often the demand to own exotic pets, is the key driver, but these precious wild animals are also stripped for their parts and derivatives to make products such as tiger bone wine, ivory statues, fashion, or as trophies to hang on the wall.
Some illegally traded animal and plant species are used in traditional medicine or as culinary delicacies. It’s common to think of more iconic mammal species being targeted, such as elephants, rhinos and lions, but it seems that every, living thing is now in demand, furry, scaly, that run, swim or fly, including donkey skins, but…I will leave that for another time.
Ugh! What are the main issues around the trade?
Aside from the threat of extinction to some of our most endangered species, there are all kinds of other consequences such as:
1. Disease – The Wuhan Coronavirus (Covid-19) sweeping across the globe, opened up Pandora’s Box highlighting the impact of illegal wildlife trade (IWT) at markets and beyond, as a hotspot for disease transmission like SARS, Bird Flu and Ebola. This recent outbreak had a global impact highlighting the fast spread of such a disease transmission from animals to humans (zoonosis), threatening human health and safety, economic stability and national and global security.
2. Biodiversity loss – This multi-billion-dollar business is the second most significant threat to biodiversity after habitat loss/degradation (WWF 2028). A healthy ecosystem of biodiversity is vital for the health and survival of the human species.
3. Economic instability – Estimated to be worth more than US $200 billion, the trade thrives through corruption and money laundering. This destabilizes economies and threatens national security.
So what are we doing about it?
Some countries play a role as a source or destination hotspot, and no country or region is immune to this issue. In collaboration with initiatives like United for Wildlife, our collective task is to make it absolutely impossible for traffickers to use existing infrastructures to move illicit goods within the region by disrupting trade networks, addressing illicit financial flows by “following the money”, that fuels and facilitates wildlife trade, and to combat cyber-crime that facilitates wildlife trafficking.
At the recent CoP 28 in Dubai, UAE, we put wildlife crime on the map in the context of mitigating climate change, and to prioritise this topic in wider dialogues. We can no longer be ostriches with our heads in the sand, or not raise the elephant in the room (pardon the animal analogies 😊.
How sad would it be if the sights, sounds and smells of giraffe, cheetahs, grey parrots, rhinos, became extinct because we were too apathic about the possible loss of our wildlife through illegal wildlife trade?
It is time to respond to this global biodiversity emergency, turning concern into action to protect Nature.
