the illegal trade in wild animals and plants · 2015. 9. 24. · fashion (e.g. luxury items) zoos,...

A strategic alliance of and

THE ILLEGAL TRADE IN WILD ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Collaborative Actions with theTransport and Logistics sector

James Compton, Senior Director – Asia, TRAFFIC

FIATA World Congress 2015, Taipei


• Economic growth forecasts

• Vessel upsizing, container shipping alliances

• Expansion of physical infrastructure

• Free Trade agreements

• Growth of e-Commerce

• Local ‘touch’ or cultural context

• Logistics service models

• Industry values

• Identifying bottlenecks

• Regulatory transparency

• Compliance

From Here and Now, Think Global


Wildlife Trade – What Is It?

‘ Wildlife trade is the buying, selling, bartering, exchanging, importing,

exporting, re-exporting of wild animals and plants – alive or as parts and

derivatives’

Traded for…..

Food (e.g. fisheries, wild meat)

Building materials and Building materials and Fuel (e.g. timber for

furniture)

Collectors and Trophies

Health care (e.g. Traditional and Western

Medicine)

Decorations and Decorations and Fashion (e.g. Luxury

Items)

Zoos, Exhibitions and Pets


The Legal Trade in Wildlife

• Worth around USD 320 billion/year

(majority in timber and fisheries)

• Can provide economic incentives for

sustainably managed harvests

• Contributes significantly to local

livelihoods and sustainable

development

• Some international trade regulated by

CITES (the Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora)

© Paul Hilton / Greenpeace


The Illegal Trade in Wildlife

• Perceived as high-profit and

low-risk

• Hugely adaptable, using legal

loopholes and sophisticated

techniques to smuggle wildlife

• Clear links to organized crime

and facilitated by corruption


http://na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=95

Estimated Value Of Illegal Wildlife Trade


A strategic alliance of and 0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Nu

mb

er

of

Rh

ino

s K

ille

d

Currently, every 7

hours a rhino is

illegally killed in

South Africa.

Rhinos in Crisis: Illegal Rhino Horn Trade


Elephant Ivory Crisis

• More than 30,000 elephants

are killed every year to supply

demand for ivory

• Illegal trade in African

elephant ivory at its highest

levels

• African ivory is illegally moved

into Asian countries where market demand persists

©Darren Potgieter/CITES/UNEP


Why Does It Matter to FIATA Members?

• Wildlife traffickers highly rely on legitimate logistics, land, air

and sea carrier services to move their commodities nationally

and transnationally

• The sector is increasingly exposed to risk of exploitation


Transport Supply Chains



Regional Trends of Supply and Demand

• Significance of Asia’s rapid

economic growth

• Expanding transport,

finance & communications

infrastructure

• Higher demand for:

� Traditional Medicine

� Luxury goods

� Wild meat

� Pets


Illegal Ivory Trade Routes

Large-scale (>500kg) seizures of ivory where trade routes were known,

2012 - 2013 (ETIS November 2013)



• 2.3 tons of African pangolin scales hidden in two shipping containers

• Believed to have come from more than 8,000 animals

• Declared as timber

• Shipment route: Central Africa, via East Africa, Southeast Asia and seized in Hong

Kong

Complex Trafficking Routes (1)

A strategic alliance of and ©Pornchai Kittiwongsakul (AFP)


• 3 tonnes of ivory

tusks

• The cargo container

was declared as ‘11

tonnes of TEA

LEAVES’

• Cargo moved from

East Africa, through

South Asia, into

Southeast Asia

bound for Lao PDR


Viet Nam - three seizures in August 2015 in Da Nang

• From Mozambique – 593kg ivory, 142kg rhino horn (MZ-MY-VN tbc)

• From Nigeria (full route tbc) – 2.2 tonnes ivory

• From Malaysia (full route tbc) – 1t ivory, 4t pangolin scales

Concealed in cargoes of marble, wood and red beans



VNS Photos Cong Thanh


Part of 850 kg of ivory seized in Hong Kong in May 2014 from 16

Vietnamese ‘mules’ traveling by air from Angola – Ethiopia – Hong

Kong – South Korea – Cambodia in 32 suitcases.

Credit: Hong Kong government



WHAT CAN THE TRANSPORT AND

LOGISTICS SECTOR DO?

Private Sector Collaboration and Co-Operation


Awareness of Wildlife Trafficking ...



Learning To Speak The Same Languagewith the Transportation and Logistics Sector


AIR SEA

Passenger airlines Air cargo carriers

and couriers

Shipping lines

Small shipments of live

animals or high-value, low-

weight animal products

typically hidden in carry-on or

checked-in luggage, or on

passengers.

Examples: Rhino horns,

elephant ivory curios and live

reptiles.

Larger shipments, live animals.

Airmail parcels of relatively

small and light to medium

weight wildlife products.

Examples: Pangolin products,

elephant ivory, animal skins,

tortoises, rare plants, tiger and

lion bones.

Bulky, heavy weight shipments

mixed with legal commodities in

sealed containers. Nearly 3/4

of large-scale ivory seizures by

weight in sea containers.

Examples: Elephant ivory,

timber, large live animals.

Movement of Wildlife Contraband


Regulatory Checks and Transport Channels

Import

COUNTRY B

Export

COUNTRY A

TECHNIQUES:

� Custom Evasion

� Concealment /

Fraud

� Falsification of

Documents

� Forging of

Documents


Local transportLocal transport

Mail/Express courier

Passenger airline

Trucking, railroad, air & sea cargo carriers

Processing of wildlife products might take place at different points along the chainProcessing of wildlife products might take place at different points along the chain

© M. Zavagli/TRAFFIC

SenderFreight

forwarder

Customs Broker

Customs Broker

Buyer

CITES Management

Authority*

Air, sea, land port

Bank

BankPort authority

Terminal operators

Subcontracted pre-inspection companies

Cargo handlers

Courier(‘passenger

mule’)

Courier

Insurance

Freight forwarder

Port authority

Terminal operators

Subcontracted pre-inspection companies

Cargo handlers

Airport security

Sub-contracted companies

(e.g. luggage handling and security services)

Air, sea, land port

*For export of CITES-listed species only

Source Country International Transit Consumer Country

Market (medicine, food,

pets, luxury goods)

Customs Customs

Supplier(Poacher)

Middle man Middle man

Middle man

Logistics companies

Airport security

Sub-contracted companies

(e.g. luggage handling and security services)

Consolidation & local transportConsolidation & local transport

Analysing the Supply Chain



Turning Risks Into Opportunities

REPUTATIONAL

RISKLEGAL RISK ECONOMIC RISK

OPPORTUNITIESOPPORTUNITIES

Demonstrate a sector/company’s commitment to an illegal wildlife-free business, through

for example:

� Adoption of approaches and policies that address wildlife conservation and trade

concerns (e.g. codes of conduct)

� Awareness raising among partners and employees

� ‘Know your clients’ and Red Flag on unusual behavior/patterns

� Information sharing & capacity building – vocational training programmes

� ‘Responsible trade management’ marketing and company profile benefits



Read the Report :Read the Report :

Promoting Industry-led Actions

Download the report at:

http://www.traffic.org/home/2015/2/11/combating-the-weakest-links-targeting-solutions-in-the-trans.html


…and Public-Private Sector Partnerships



REDUCE MOTIVATION FOR CRIMINAL

INVOLVEMENT IN POACHING AND ILLEGAL TRADE

Increase the effort

criminals need to

make

Increase the indirect

and direct risksReduce the rewards

Protective

interventions

at source

Private

Sector

Avoidance

Visibility and

exposure

Law,

enforcement

and judicial

action

Consumer

demand

reduction

Stop the Poaching:

Helping to strengthen field

protection, including by

strengthening community

incentives for protection

Stop the Trafficking: prompting and

supporting stronger governance and

enforcement action to suppress trafficking

Stop the Buying:

Motivating change in

consumer behaviour

International Policy:

Mobilising policy pressure, ensuring transparency and compliance

A Holistic Approach

Community

support for

conservation

Seize criminal

assets



Thank you

www.traffic.org

https://www.facebook.com/trafficnetwork/

https://twitter.com/TRAFFIC_WLTrade

©Martin Harvey/Canon-WWF