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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:31 am
Time: 1:31 am
Results for wildlife crimes (laos)
1 results foundAuthor: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Criminal Justice Response to wildlife and forest crime in Lao PDR Summary: Laos in a landlocked country of about 5.7 million people made up of 49 broad ethnic groups. Approximately eighty per cent of the population is located in rural areas and many depend on agriculture and natural resources for survival. The country is bordered by China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. It is governed in the framework of a single socialist political party, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPPR). Laos is a land rich in biological diversity and home to unique and rare species of flora and fauna. Many of these species are listed under Appendices I, II and III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). These flora species include high value timber species such as Aquilaria crassna and Aquilaria baillonii commonly known as Argarwood (Appendix I) and Dalbergia cochinchinensis commonly known as Siamese Rosewood (Appendix III) and rare orchids such as the Paphiopedilum appletonianum commonly known as Appleton's Paphiopedilum (Appendix I). Some of the better known CITES listed fauna species found in Laos include the Tiger (Appendix I), Leopard (Appendix I), Clouded Leopard (Appendix I), Elephant (Appendix I), Sun Bear (Appendix I), Asiatic Black Bear (Appendix I), Pangolin (Appendix II) and several turtles including the Indochinese Box Turtle (Appendix I). Despite their protection under CITES and National Laws, Lao forests have undergone extensive commercial logging over the last 30 years with forest cover dropping from 75% in 1979 to 40% in 2009. In 2014 a government initiated planting program has increased forest cover to just over 50% but the country has a long way to go to reach its goal of 65% cover by 2015 and 70% by 2020. There is growing evidence that transnational organised crime groups are contributing to a significant degree to forest exploitation and the Lao government has come under harsh criticism for its failure to control the illegal logging of its forests. Many of Laos' fauna species have fared no better and continue to be subjected to illegal trafficking to feed markets in neighbouring China and Vietnam. The objective of this study therefore is to determine what role the criminal justice system in Laos is playing in the struggle against the illegal trade in timber and wildlife. It is based on a field visit to Laos, a review of the available primary and secondary data, interviews with key interlocutors and a roundtable meeting of senior officers from the key government departments, IGO's and NGO's held in Vientiane in September 2014. During the meeting in September the current version of the report was circulated to all participants both in Lao language and in English to solicit comments and feedback. The presentations of the senior officers at the September meeting were eventually incorporated into what has become the final version of the report. Interviews were mainly conducted with key players of the criminal justice systems such as prosecutors, police, customs and environment/forestry officials involved in law enforcement. Details: New York: UNODC, 2014. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2014 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//2014/10/trade-timber/Criminal_Justice_Responses_to_the_Illegal_Trade_in_Timber_in_South_East_Asia_v7.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Laos URL: https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//2014/10/trade-timber/Criminal_Justice_Responses_to_the_Illegal_Trade_in_Timber_in_South_East_Asia_v7.pdf Shelf Number: 133831 Keywords: Forest ManagementIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeOrganized CrimeWildlife ConservationWildlife Crimes (Laos)Wildlife Law EnforcementWildlife Trafficking |