A New Report Looks at the Illegal Trade of Plants and Animals
10 July 2020 (UN Environment)* — From rhino horns, to pangolin scales to rosewood, the world has seen increases and decreases in the illicit trade of plants and animals during the recent five-year period, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs a Crime.
What are some common examples of environmental crimes?
Arnold: Generally speaking, an environmental crime refers to an activity that is against the law, harms the environment, creates a benefit (often an economic one) for those who commit it, and results in criminal penalties such as a fine and/or imprisonment for the offender. Examples include smuggling of wildlife, export of hazardous waste in manner that does not respect environmental standards, illegal logging, or illegal fishing. Whether an act or an omission will result in criminal penalties is a decision made by each country.
What are the key challenges faced when combating environmental crime?
Arnold: One is the availability of data. Coordination within a country, for example between customs and the prosecutor’s office, and between countries has also been challenging. Key legal challenges include weak regulatory frameworks, especially light penalties that do not deter perpetrators, and weak monitoring and enforcement frameworks.
How does UNEP fight wildlife crime?
Arnold: UNEP’s collaborative action to combatting wildlife crime spans a diverse project portfolio at national, regional and global scales. We have three inter-related priorities. The first is maintaining political momentum to support international cooperation and strengthen political will to address illegal wildlife trade at the national level.
The second is supporting legal, judicial and enforcement measures by strengthening legal and regulatory systems and promoting capacity development in many countries to effectively enforce wildlife and timber laws and tackle illegal wildlife trade. Finally, we help build knowledge to prevent and reduce demand for illegally sourced wildlife products.
We also galvanize action in support of the importance of ecosystem and species stewardship through the campaign Wild for Life, a partnership between UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme, UNODC with CITES.
Are there any linkages between COVID-19 and wildlife crime?
Susan: Although we should caution against jumping to conclusions until a clear link between the new coronavirus and illegally traded species is firmly established, the unregulated nature of illegal trade in wildlife and the absence of any veterinary controls makes it a threat to human health.
The link to wild animal markets for this disease have not been proven conclusively. Nonetheless, based on past experience with coronaviruses, such as SARS, the World Health Organizationrecommends hygiene precautions when visiting wild animal markets. Evidence indicates that there is scope for improving the sanitary conditions and veterinary monitoring along the entire wildlife trade chain to reduce transmission rates, including of captive breeding facilities.
Efforts to ensure the strict application of the law are needed to minimize the risk of future epidemics. Effective implementation of law and policy for wildlife are also needed to ensure a sustainable market in wildlife products is managed for the benefit of people and biodiversity.
*SOURCE: UN Environment. Go to ORIGINAL.
