news reports, seizures, policy, development, conservation

New Delhi: TRAFFIC and WWF-India’s latest online campaign to help #EndWildlifeTrafficking urges people to refrain from buying, consuming, owning or wearing protected wildlife species in India. The campaign highlights threats to five protected wildlife species that are illegally traded in India, but have not received their share of conservation focus. read full story >

Pretoria, South Africa, 20th January 2021—Wanting to provide for a family or the lack of financial security are cited as key motivators for people caught illegally trading wildlife in Namibia, according to a new report released today by TRAFFIC. read full story >

China / UK, 8th January 2021—Customs officials in China and Laos met in a ground-breaking virtual forum to discuss the future measures both countries can take to combat illegal wildlife trafficking across their borders.  read full story >

Cambridge UK, 5th January 2021 – The course ‘Prevention on Wildlife Trafficking’ launched by FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, is now available free of charge in seven languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish).   read full story >

Update: A Chinese translation of the guide is also now available. Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 15th December 2020 — a new guide to identifying species will be launched to assist enforcement officers in determining wildlife openly sold in the markets of the Golden Triangle areas of Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand. read full story >

Johannesburg, South Africa, 30th November 2020—TRAFFIC has obtained valuable new insights into the organisation, activities and modus operandi of criminal operations thanks to the voluntary co-operation of 73 offenders imprisoned in South Africa for wildlife crime offences read full story >

Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 27th November 2020—TRAFFIC and Vietnam’s Central Committee for Propaganda and Education (CCPE) held a high-level meeting today to strengthen the country’s communications in addressing the illegal wildlife trade. The event, part of the USAID Wildlife Asia project, welcomed 50 CCPE leaders and senior government communicators from various departments of CCPE and other government agencies. read full story >

Deqing, China, November 2020—Industry leaders representing 13 companies1 from the hardwood timber industry in China signed an “Initiative Against Illegal Wildlife Trade” co-launched by TRAFFIC and China Timber and Wood Products Distribution Association (CTWPDA) during the 10th Global Wood Trade Conference and 2020 China Global Sustainable Hardwood Conference held earlier this month in Deqing, Huzhou, China. read full story >

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, November 2020—The East Africa Association of Prosecutors (EAAP) have launched a regional website to support its members’ efforts in effectively prosecuting wildlife and related crimes during a virtual event hosted by TRAFFIC.  read full story >

Cambridge, UK, 20th November 2020—TRAFFIC today joined 20 leading conservation groups—the Wildlife Conservation 20—in issuing an unprecedented joint declaration to the G20 calling for urgent action to invest in nature to protect biodiversity and reduce the risk of future pandemics. Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies, the so-called G20, gathering this weekend have an unparalleled opportunity to build into COVID-19 economic recovery long-lasting action to conserve planetary health and reset human interactions with nature. read full story >

Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 20th November 2020—TRAFFIC and the National Assembly of Viet Nam held a high-level dialogue today bringing together 50  parliamentarians, government officials, and conservation experts to plan a long-term wildlife legislation and communications strategy. The event, held in partnership with the National Assembly’s Elected Representatives Training Centre, focused on how national conservation laws could be strengthened to bolster enforcement and ways in which communications campaigns could best support wildlife legislation. read full story >

Beijing, China, November 2020—earlier this month, customs officers from China, Cameroon and Republic of the Congo met online during an event entitled “International Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) and Timber Trade Governance Meeting for China-Congo Basin Countries Customs Authorities.” Delegates made firm commitments on intelligence sharing and joint trans-boundary law enforcement actions and spoke about illegal wildlife trade issues related to Chinese businesses operating in Africa.  read full story >