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Published 11 December 2014

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Symposium to go beyond enforcement

Beyond enforcement: Communities, governance, incentives and sustainable use in combating illegal wildlife trade

Symposium to be held 26-28 February 2015, South Africa

Please note this symposium is now fully subscribed, following an extremely enthusiastic response from around the world to our Call for Abstracts. We are very sorry that we are not able to accommodate more people, but will make as much of the symposium material available through this and partner websites as possible. 


IUCN CEESP/SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Austrian Ministry for the Environment, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and TRAFFIC are holding a symposium exploring the roles of communities, governance, incentives and sustainable use in combating illegal wildlife trade, to be held near Johannesburg, South Africa, 26-28 February 2015. 

This symposium seeks to evaluate whether and under what circumstances community-based interventions are likely to achieve success in combating current patterns of illegal use and trade of wildlife (both plants and animals), and provide examples, lessons learnt and guidance in order to support governments, institutions and organisations meet relevant international commitments. Outputs of the meeting will be presented at the inter-governmental Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in Kasane, Botswana, March 2015.

We are particularly interested in submissions from people who are members of communities affected by or engaged in tackling wildlife crime, or community support organisations; and from those with governmental (or inter-government) responsibilities for addressing wildlife crime. Abstracts are invited on any aspect of the topic, but particularly in the following areas:
 

  • Negative impacts of enforcement on communities: How are current enforcement strategies (the rise of "green militarism") impacting on communities?
  • Understanding and quantifying the negative impact of wildlife crime on sustainable livelihoods and economic development:How is illegal wildlife trade impacting on communities?
  • Engaging communities in conservation: Where and how has strengthening community rights to manage and use or benefit from wild resources successfully reduced wildlife crime?
  • Involving communities in law enforcement efforts: Where and how are communities actively engaging in enforcement efforts, and what factors underpin success?


Please also see a detailed programme of the symposium.