TRAFFIC East Asia

Region: Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan, the Koreas and Mongolia
Offices: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei and Beijing
Founded: 1994
1st Director: Judy Mills
Caretaker Director: James Compton
Contact Details

Regional overview
East Asia is a major centre of world demand for wildlife products, ranging from Tiger bone medicines to sharks fin cuisine. The region is also a key supplier to the international wildlife market, both legal and illegal.

In recent years most countries in East Asia have undergone rapid economic development, creating higher living standards, but also associated ecological costs. Many have now reached the stage where the public’s demand for a better environment is forcing governments to re-evaluate national environmental policies.

TRAFFIC East Asia constantly monitors implementation of wildlife regulations in the region, to determine their effectiveness, particularly with regarding ivory, Tiger bone, turtle shell, reptile skins and rhinoceros horn. TRAFFIC East Asia hosts regular seminars for enforcement officials in the region (since 1995).

Office history and key wildlife trade decisions in the region
TRAFFIC began working in the region in 1982, through a national programme office hosted by WWF-Japan. Led by Tom Milliken, the office published a series of detailed reports on Japan’s trade in parrots, Asian arowana, bears, cacti and live reptiles. In the early 1990s, investigations took place into illegal imports of musk, monitor lizards and cat skins.

1988: research into the rhino horn trade in South Korea and Indonesian sea turtles
1989: ivory trade in Hong Kong and Taiwan studied
1990: ivory trade in South Korea investigated
1991: smuggling of threatened wildlife across the Taiwan Strait exposed
1992: Taipei office opened; report into rhino horn trade in Taiwan published (The horns of a dilemma)
1993: Chinese government bans trade in rhino horn and Tiger parts
1994: Regional office established in Hong Kong; report into rhino horn trade in South Korea published (Market under cover); agarwood trade investigated; leading report into the Tiger bone trade published (Killed for a cure: A review of the worldwide trade in Tiger bone); markets surveyed in China to assess availability of Tiger derivatives (also in 1994 and 1996)
1995: report into the use of bears in medicinal products published (The bear facts: The East Asian market for bear gall bladder); agarwood listed under CITES
1997: Asian ivory trade report published (Still in business: The ivory trade in Asia, seven years after the CITES ban)
1998: report into attitudes towards traditional medicines in Hong Kong published
1999: further studies into attitudes towards traditional medicines (A world apart? Attitudes toward traditional Chinese medicine and endangered species in Hong Kong and the United States); investigation into Tibetan Antelope derivatives in trade (Fashion statement spells death for Tibetan Antelope); slipper orchid nursery registration scheme implemented in Taiwan
2000: wildlife sniffer dog unit established in South Korea, following TRAFFIC feasability studies; investigations into CITES-listed plants traded in China; whale meat trade in Japan documented
2001: Musk Deer farming investigated
2002: studies into Whale Shark trade in Taiwan
2003: studies into attitudes towards traditional medicines in South Korea; beetle trade in Japan examined
2004: report into shark product trade in mainland China and Hong Kong published
2005: live tortoise and freshwater turtle pet trade in Japan investigated; bear gall trade in Japan report
2007: leading report into Tiger trade markets published (Taming the tiger trade: China’s markets for wild and captive tiger products since the 1993 domestic trade ban); Russian salmon fishery report (Trading tails: Russian salmon fisheries and East Asian markets)