14 May 2014
On 13 May at a special event in Vienna, Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), urged the international community to ‘come together at the highest political level’ to end wildlife and forest crime. Fedotov further warned that ‘[t]he rate of poaching is such that a number of iconic and lesser known species risk being wiped out over the next decade – and we will all bear responsibility for those losses.’ It is a shared responsibility to prevent such losses, stressed Fedotov. (more…)
Source: UN News Centre | UN crime chief urges global action to disrupt ‘ruthless’ illegal wildlife trade
17 February 2014
At the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade on 13 February, forty-six countries agreed to a declaration to fight the illegal wildlife trade, which results in the deaths of thousands of elephants, rhinos and other endangered species per year. The declaration states that the trade has a ‘significant scale and detrimental economic, social and environmental consequences.’ The countries agreed to address corruption, adopt legislation for stricter penalties on poachers, and recruit more law enforcement officers, among other actions. Additionally, in the declaration states promise to not procure wildlife products officially. Foreign secretary William Hague described the conference as unprecedented, historic and a turning point in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.
Source: The Guardian | Global accord on combatting illegal wildlife trade agreed by 46 nations