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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 2:20 am
Time: 2:20 am
Results for wildlife products
2 results foundAuthor: Vandome, Christopher Title: Tackling Illegal Wildlife Trade in Africa: Economic Incentives and Approaches Summary: The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) significantly impacts African economies by destroying and corroding natural, human and social capital stocks. This hinders the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has an impact on national budgets. Illicit financial flows from IWT deny revenue to governments where legal wildlife product trade exists and perpetuate cash externalization. IWT diverts national budgets away from social or development programmes, increases insecurity and threatens vulnerable populations. In expanding wildlife economies and pursuing conservation-driven development models, governments can protect their citizens, derive revenue from wildlife products, and establish world class tourism offerings. The illegal exploitation of wildlife is often due to a failure to enforce rights over those resources, where rights are unclearly defined or not fully exercised. Southern African countries have defined these rights in various ways, contributing to regional differences in conservation practices and the socioeconomic benefits derived from wildlife resources. Combating IWT is an important step towards allowing legitimate business and communities to develop livelihoods that incentivize stewardship and connect people to conservation. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has several framework policies for the establishment of transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs). These promote local stewardship across multiple land-use areas to conserve biodiversity and increase the welfare and socioeconomic development of rural communities. Private-sector partnerships also increase skills transfer, improve access to investment finance, and expand economic opportunities, including through the promotion of local procurement. The economic benefits of TFCAs extend beyond tourism. The economic value of African ecosystems is often under-recognized because they remain unquantified, partly due to the lack of available data on the broader economic costs of IWT. Improved monitoring and evaluation with key performance indicators would help governments and citizens to appreciate the economic value of combating IWT. Details: London, UK: Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2018. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 21, 2018 at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/tackling-illegal-wildlife-trade-africa-economic-incentives-and-approaches Year: 2018 Country: International URL: https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/publications/2018-10-11-VandomeVines-Illegal-wildlife-WEB.pdf Shelf Number: 153234 Keywords: Biodiversity Conservation Community Engagement Conservation Management Environmental Crime Illegal Wildlife Trade Illicit Financial Flows Monitoring and Evaluation Poaching Sustainable Development Goals Sustainable Tourism Transfrontier Conservation Areas Wildlife Crime Wildlife Products |
Author: United Nations Environment Programme Title: Analysis of the Environmental Impacts of Illegal Trade in Wildlife Summary: The severity, diversity and global scale of the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products (ITW) has been recognised at various levels of international policy making, including the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), UN ECOSOC, the UN Security Council, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and most recently in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as various conventions, agreements and other high-level political conferences. Government leaders, the international community, and civil society have responded by defining and strengthening commitments to address ITW through a range of measures, including through the development of regional and sub-regional strategies and action plans. However, considerable gaps in the current state of knowledge about the drivers, status, and impacts of ITW hinder the effectiveness of these efforts. More robust and up-to date evidence is needed if we are to have better-informed and more effective interventions, with greater coherence at the policy and advocacy level. This analysis goes some way to addressing this need by compiling and synthesizing for the first time the evidence base on the environmental impacts of ITW across taxonomic and geographic scales. Using the best available evidence, the analysis provides a cross-section of the currently available information and thus improves the current state of knowledge of the scale and broader impacts of ITW. The most documented environmental impact directly attributed to ITW is the decline in population size of iconic target species, for example tigers, now driven to the brink of extinction as a result of growing international demand for their parts and derivatives. Poaching and illegal harvesting methods can also alter the demographic and genetic structure of species: illegal logging, for instance, has the tendency to remove the largest and most reproductively valuable trees, which consequently has negative impacts on regeneration and the gene pool of the population. The impacts of ITW on the environment go beyond the immediate detrimental effects on target species. For instance, ITW can lead to the spread of diseases and invasive species when live animals are moved across international borders. Many illegal harvest methods have limited or no selectivity and result in substantial incidental mortality of non-target species: illegal dynamite fishing, bottom trawling and use of driftnets are all prominent examples of this. The analysis also highlights the cascading ecological effects deriving from the loss of species through ITW, and the resulting deterioration of ecosystem functions and services of both global and local importance. Compelling case studies such as on the illegal production of charcoal, which has been proven to contribute to deforestation and desertification, illustrate these intertwined effects. Ultimately, the negative impacts of ITW on ecosystem functioning adversely affect rural livelihoods both in the short- and long-term, creating major barriers to indigenous peoples in sustainably managing their natural resources, undermining good governance, the rule of law and national security. It is of critical importance to strengthen the policy and institutional frameworks to combat ITW at global, regional and national levels, not only to conserve biodiversity, but also to support sustainable development. Environmental policies should provide an enabling environment for communities to be involved in wildlife governance and derive benefits from its conservation and sustainable use. Furthermore, a robust mechanism for collating and monitoring global data on incidences of ITW, as well as the effectiveness of interventions to combat ITW, should be put in place to improve the evidence base and to provide a reliable and up-to-date information source for targeted actions. This will support the response to ITW at global, regional and national level and provide a foundation to tracking progress in addressing ITW and in meeting the relevant Sustainable Development Goal targets. Safeguarding biodiversity requires addressing the multiple, and often interconnected threats - not only from illegal trade, but also from habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution, invasive species and climate change. As the international community moves ahead with implementing the numerous commitments already in place, and with more actors, financial resources and knowledge, there is a growing need to ensure coherence and coordination in the international response, and to ensure that such responses are kept under review and are based on the best available scientific evidence to ensure effectiveness. Details: New York City: United Nations Environment Programme, 2017. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 30, 2019 at: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/17554/FINAL_%20UNEA2_Inf%20doc%2028.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y Year: 2017 Country: International URL: https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/17554 Shelf Number: 156100 Keywords: Environmental Crime Illegal Logging Illegal Trade in Wildlife Illegal Wildlife Trade IUU Fishing Poaching Wildlife Crime Wildlife Products |