Archives for wildlife trafficking
Understanding the Female Wildlife Offender: Lessons from the Case Files
Closed case reviews indicate that gender norms might be as harmful as they are helpful in understanding female involvement in wildlife crime, with better evidence needed to inform enforcement strategies. The role of women in relation to wildlife crime is viewed through a lens of localised gender norms, social conventions…
Cheating the System: Where Permits Come as Freely as the Wildlife
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…
Without Wi-Fi it’s Worthless: Will Virtualisation of Courts Prevent or Aid the Backlog of Wildlife Court Cases in Uganda?
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…
Laundering Shark Species in the Pacific: The Trail of the Fin
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…
Why Wildlife Traffickers are Escaping Justice
The criminal exploitation of our planet’s species is bringing many of them close to extinction. This is occurring to numerous animals and plants, either as entire species or in geographically-restricted populations. In recent years, tigers have been eradicated from their historical territories in several countries of Southeast Asia, whilst massive swathes of South America’s…
Transnational Organised Environmental Crime
In recent years, greater attention has been given internationally to the role of organised crime networks in environmental crime, including the illegal trade in wildlife. There is evidence of organised crime groups being involved in the illegal trade in caviar, as well as the illegal trade in timber. Both are types…
Wildlife Trafficking and Organised Crime Groups
Wildlife trafficking, like other illicit markets, is one way that organised crime groups (OCGs) make money. The involvement of organised crime in the illegal wildlife trade has in recent years gained the attention of the UN, where in 2013 the Economic and Social Council resolution 2013/40 encouraged members to make…