A review of TRAFFIC's work mid-2008 to mid-2010
2 Flagship species
TRAFFIC’s Flagship Species programme aims to catalyse urgent action for emblematic threatened species that act as flagships of wider trade and conservation challenges. Some highlights from 2008-2010 include:
Asian Big Cats
Making the most of the Year of the Tiger
February 2010: TRAFFIC and partners doubled efforts to strengthen trade controls for Tigers from local to global level. Enforcement support in range States included capacity-building programmes for frontline enforcers, alerting enforcers to illegal trade leading to seizures of Tiger products, support for the organization of and participation in numerous international meetings, collaborating with the World Bank and others in looking at ways to reduce demand for Tiger products, and strengthening CITES mechanisms to track national enforcement of trade controls and address gaps.
Launch of TigerNET
January 2009: Launch of TigerNET: TRAFFIC assisted India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority in the development of a web based centralised database, TigerNET, in India. This is the first consolidated official database on mortality and poaching related to Tigers and other protected species, and allows enforcement officers to record information on Tiger mortalities, to monitor patterns of where poaching incidents are occurring and to use this information to strengthen enforcement efforts.
World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies stand against Tiger use
March 2010: Following engagement by TRAFFIC, the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies issued a statement in March 2010 urging its members not to use Tiger bone or any other parts from endangered wildlife. The statement was made at a symposium in Beijing and notes that some of the claimed medicinal benefits of Tiger bone have no basis.
Elephants
ETIS the global standard for long-term monitoring of ivory trade
November 2009: ETIS, the Elephant Trade Information System, has become the global standard for long-term monitoring of ivory trade, with capabilities to identify key countries underlying trade dynamics (domestic ivory markets, organized crime) and other factors. ETIS Analyses at CoP15 informed debate, with CITES Parties calling for the Secretariat to work to assess progress made with the implementation of the ivory action plan and an ETIS analysis in preparation for Standing Committee meetings, as well as CoPs.
China now more engaged and taking action on ivory trade issues 
November 2008: China is now more engaged in efforts to address the ivory trade than ever before, making 700+ ivory seizures annually, reaching out to key source countries, undertaking public outreach at home and abroad, and investing in ongoing training and capacity-building for law enforcers and regulators.
Spotlight fixed on Thailand’s trade
September 2009: A major press initiative associated with the release of a TRAFFIC report on Thailand’s domestic ivory market that generated widespread coverage in June 2009. As a result of this and subsequent meetings, the Thai Government and TRAFFIC convened a series of training events to improve law enforcement, policy and intra-government linkages and co-ordination with respect to illicit trade in ivory, and submitted the first ivory seizure cases to ETIS since 2002. The Government has committed to amending existing laws, with a new ‘Elephant Act’, designed to consolidate all elephant-related issues (including various problematic issues associated with domesticated elephants in Thailand) under a single law. TRAFFIC’s guidance is being sought by the Government in the design of this law.
Great Apes
Increased profile of great ape issues in Indonesia
August 2010: TRAFFIC’s report on the Orangutan and gibbon trade in Sumatra attracted considerable media attention, with a number of articles and presentations trade also helping shine a spotlight on the trade.
Capacity-building and advocacy laying groundwork for action in SEA
2008-2010: TRAFFIC has been working to strengthen wildlife laws in South-east Asia, and has a comprehensive programme to boost capacity among enforcement officials to tackle wildlife trade problems, including the trade in great apes.
Cameroon takes action to regulate wild meat markets
October 2009: Unlike the case in South-east Asia, great apes in Central Africa are traded as meat. Following information and advocacy by TRAFFIC, the Government of Cameroon adopted a ministerial Decision which regulates wild meat marketplaces nationwide. Support was also provided to the Government of Cameroon for “flashpoint” raids on three markets in Yaoundé, leading to confiscation of great ape and other illegal meat, and associated publicity.
Rhinos
Trans-national action on Africa–Viet Nam trade
March 2010: TRAFFIC documented the rhino horn trade in a comprehensive report to Cop15 and ensured that the decisions that emanated from CoP15 set the stage for a concerted focus on Viet Nam. Following on from that development, TRAFFIC subsequently facilitated a major breakthrough in the fight against rhino horn smuggling from South Africa to Viet Nam, with the governments of the two countries now beginning to work together to address the trade.
Capacity-building and investigations support in India
April 2010: In India, much of the work to address the illegal trade in Tigers has equal relevance to rhinos, including efforts to detect poachers, resulting in arrests and a seizure of rhino horn and skin. TRAFFIC’s work in India has led to the arrest of many rhino poachers and has led to seizure of several wildlife products including rhino horns and arms and ammunition.
Vicuna
Detailed assessment of conservation and management in Peru
2009: A Vicuna conservation and management assessment was completed in Peru, the largest and most complex of the four range States, with a workshop convened with all the sub-regional Directors of the national Direction of Forests and Wildlife.
Video produced on “Chaccu” traditional live shearing event
May 2010: A video on the annual Vicuna round-up has been produced and distributed within Peru, and globally via YouTube.
Engagement with industry stakeholders in Italy
2009: There have been discussions with the Italian garment industry to encourage their support for sustainable sourcing of vicuna wool in Peru and better distribution of benefits to producers.
Marine Turtles
Successful crack-down on illegal trade in Dominican Republic
March 2009: Following TRAFFIC trade surveys and successful “quiet“ advocacy, the Dominican Republic Government cracked down on illegal Hawksbill Turtle shell trade, with a subsequent 99% drop in open sales observed in sites visited. Follow-on work includes support to the government to develop a marine turtle management plan and law enforcement monitoring with a DNA test to identify geographic origins of turtle shell products.
Increased consumer awareness in Mexico and the Caribbean
September 2008: TRAFFIC, in collaboration with the Mexican Government, has developed and distributed nearly 30,000 brochures to tourists in Mexico, urging them to avoid marine turtle products. Brochures are now being produced for the cruise ship industry in the wider Caribbean in partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
Baseline data and funding secured for enforcement capacity-building in Southeast Asia
May 2009: TRAFFIC has documented the harvest and trade of marine turtle shells in Viet Nam and in marine eggs in Malaysia. This information will be useful to a recently funded project to boost capacity to tackle the trade among enforcement officials in South-east Asia, with links to East Asia.
Fisheries
South Pacific RFMO deepwater gillnet ban
November 2009: TRAFFIC was successful in pushing for a ban on the use of deep water gillnets in the newly created South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO). The effort was supported by major media attention immediately prior to an SPRFMO meeting linked to an Australian seizure of an illegal deep water gillnet with 29 t of toothfish and a significant by-catch of skates. The Australian Broadcasting Company noted that two web pieces (both mentioning TRAFFIC) on the illegal net “went viral”, each getting over 50,000 hits.
CITES CoP15 and the action that followed
March 2010: While CITES CoP 15 did not result in listings for sharks, tuna or other marine species, the high level technical discussions and close outcomes resulted in key recommendations from TRAFFIC’s work on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries being included in key CITES decisions. In addition, the debate surrounding CITES led key countries, such as Japan, to start lobbying for RFMOs to adopt measures recommended by TRAFFIC and others, including catch documentation schemes and tagging for tuna and shark products. The role of CITES as a ‘stick’ to encourage national and RFMO action on fisheries is now well established and will be used in future to full effect. TRAFFIC has also been contracted by the UK Joint Nature Conservation Council to look at the relative merits of different instruments that could be used for managing commercially exploited aquatic species which will help guide our work internally.
Shaping the roll-out of EU IUU regulations 
August 2009: The EU regulation banning imports of fish of origins suspected to be illegal, unreported and/or unregulated is having major consequences for the EU’s trading partners. TRAFFIC helped advise the EU on the process to prepare countries ready to meet the new regulations, and is undertaking a project to gauge the regulation’s impact in South Africa.
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