Wildlife and forest crime

Conservation NGOs can Boost Financial Investigations into Illegal Wildlife Trade – An Opportunity for Cross-Sector Collaboration

17 Jan, 2022
Fred Ellis

In recent years, academic research on the frequency of financial investigations into illegal wildlife trade (IWT) has been growing, both in volume and in strength of voice. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) regularly publishes reports on the movements of profits from IWT, and the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) – the…

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Illegal Wildlife Trade’s ‘Frenemy’: Navigating the implications of China’s BRI Expansion in West Africa

7 Dec, 2021
Elijah Glantz

Can China become an asset in the fight against illegal wildlife trade (IWT)? With the construction of the Chinese-financed and built Lekki Deep Sea Port in Nigeria, China continues to expand into West Africa as part of its Blue Economic Passage project, an aspect of the larger Belt and Road…

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Cheating the System: Where Permits Come as Freely as the Wildlife

28 Sep, 2021
Lauren Young

Urgent action is needed to modernise the operation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to prevent the systematic ‘laundering’ of threatened species such as cheetahs. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) published in September 2021 a stark reminder of…

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Without Wi-Fi it’s Worthless: Will Virtualisation of Courts Prevent or Aid the Backlog of Wildlife Court Cases in Uganda?

25 Aug, 2021
Iisa Kosonen

Courts have gone online during Covid-19. Is this the answer to Uganda’s backlog of wildlife crime cases? The Covid-19 pandemic has obstructed global access to key government provisions, including criminal justice services. A recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report from 2020 showcased that many countries were struggling…

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Laundering Shark Species in the Pacific: The Trail of the Fin

5 Jun, 2021
Dr Alejandro Lerch

Illegal fishing has turned predator into prey, yet little is known about how shark species are laundered through legitimate supply chain. According to a landmark new study by Nature magazine, sharks are vanishing from the oceans. For every ten sharks in the open sea in the 1970s, today there is only…

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