African Wildlife Foundation’s Post

Namibia leads Southern Africa in fight against wildlife trafficking Namibia, through an operation dubbed Saving Wildlife through Multilateral Cooperation in Africa (SAMA), has seen 17 cases leading to the interception of 34 illegal shipments of wildlife within Southern Africa. According to the Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices Head for East and Southern Africa (ESA), Sitheni Ncube, operation SAMA took place between 1 January 2024 and 29 February 2024. The results highlighted the ongoing challenges and indicated the potential for success in dismantling the current illicit wildlife trade. “The number of cases and commodities that were recorded during the two-month long operation and uploaded into the CENcomm platform by the 20 Members States, if extrapolated by 12 months and then also factor in the rest of continent’s countries that did not participate in the operation, the resultant figure would clearly validate the long-standing assertion that Africa is indeed under siege from these unscrupulous illicit wildlife traders,” he said. Namibia was also the first country among the member states to establish a Port Control Unit at Walvis Bay. https://lnkd.in/dqTFX5ua #namibia #wildlife #illicittrade #southernafrica Namibia Revenue Agency #walvisbayport Ana-Beatriz Martins

Despite having the lowest regional wildlife crime levels in Africa, Southern Africa now faces a surge in wildlife crime, as revealed by the ENACT Organised Crime Index by Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime. 🛑 South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe report a steady increase over four years. Southern Africa has increasingly become a hub for trade in live animals and animal parts, with significant growth from 2021 to 2023. The ENACT report also links environmental crimes with the same networks involved in drug trafficking. While organised crime is prevalent in South Africa, government agencies and NGOs are working hard to improve enforcement and create more efficient collaborations. Join us in reporting wildlife crime and calling for both international cooperation that protects Southern Africa's incredible biodiversity 🌳 Want to know more? 🔗 Read the full article: https://rb.gy/l1bk9j #WAFWildlifeNews #WildlifeProtection #Conservation #SouthernAfrica #News #WildlifeNews #WildlifeCrime #Africa

👍 The #ECOFEL has successfully concluded the ‘Illegal Wildlife Trade’ Workshop! This workshop took place on Day Four of the 30th annual Egmont Plenary and brought participants from FIUs and international organizations to discuss how they can support financial investigations into the illegal wildlife trade and wildlife crime. 💡 This two-hour workshop provided a myriad of tools and knowledge to encourage stakeholders to continue to implement national strategies that target illegal proceeds and strengthen partnerships with relevant public and private agencies to provide a stronger and more efficient response to this crime. 👩🏫 The workshop featured presentations and panel discussions from practitioners who are actively involved in combatting the illegal wildlife trade and the illicit financial activities that fuel it, notably from the Deutsche Bank, Europol, TRAFFIC and FINTRAC Canada | CANAFE Canada. As you may know, FINTRAC has also been a leading partner in the development of the updated eLearning course “Introduction to wildlife crime”, which can be accessed on the ECOFEL’s eLearning Platform: learn.ecofel.org. 🔑 During the panel discussions, topics such as the role that FIUs play in fighting IWT, the challenges to ensuring effective interagency cooperation and the opportunities and recommendations to facilitate the broader use of financial tools in disrupting this harmful industry were explored and challenged. 👏 The ECOFEL would like to extend its appreciation to the presenters for sharing their insights and knowledge with the audience, as well as to the attendees for their active participation.   🤝 The ECOFEL would also like to thank Tracfin for graciously hosting the 30th annual Egmont Plenary from June 2-7, 2024.   🤝 Last but not least, thank you to the ECOFEL donors below. Our initiatives would not be possible without your support and generous contributions!   U.S. Department of State - Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) SECO Economic Cooperation and Development AUSTRAC UAE Financial Intelligence Unit Saudi Arabia FIU (SAFIU) Anti-Money Laundering Division (AMLD) – Taiwan Grand Duchy of Luxemburg 🤝 The ECOFEL remains committed to engaging with strategic international partners to fight the illegal wildlife trade. #FinancialInvestigation #IWT #WildlifeCrime #FinancialIntelligence

Illegal Wildlife Trade: How? 🐅 A 33-year-old Chinese national tried to smuggle 43 Australian lizards (including blue-tongue skinks, shingleback skinks and eastern water dragons) to Hong Kong and was arrested. He attempted this by hiding them in parcels at post offices in Sydney and Wollongong between December 2023 and January 2024. The question is: "Can you spot illegal wildlife trade?" Learn about: 👉 Methods of Wildlife Trade 👉 Laundering Methods 👉 Potential Red Flags for spotting Illegal Wildlife Trade Read more: https://lnkd.in/eiiqKDYi

At its annual gathering in mid-May, the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (#CCPCJ) (a principal policy-making body) gathered to deliberate on how the international community can best tackle #wildlifetrafficking, amongst a range of other issues. Crimes that affect the environment are becoming increasingly prominent in the CCPCJ’s agenda and countries appear to be increasingly convinced that the prevailing international legal framework is insufficient to effectively combat wildlife trafficking, and that an international agreement is needed. The Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime (EWC), is an alliance of individuals and organisations that actively supports the development of a mechanism(s) to address the serious gaps in international law, in order to combat wildlife crime. EWC Chair John Scanlon AO and Policy Officer Alice Pasqualato presented at the 33rd session of the CCPCJ and supported the government of Angola in a side event which explored the possibility of an additional Protocol as such a mechanism, by analysing the history and impact of the Convention and its existing protocols. This session marked a critical step toward stronger global policies for #wildlifecrime prevention. Read Alice Pasqualato's recap blog below;

Intelligence analysis is an important force multiplier when faced with a problem as vast, urgent, and under-resourced as wildlife crime. It helps to strategically identify the greatest criminal threat, allowing investigations to focus their efforts where they can have the greatest impact. Therefore, #intelligence must form part of any overarching strategy to tackle #wildlifecrime. We’re thankful for the generous support of Svenska Postkodstiftelsen (The Swedish Postcode Foundation) which enables us to assist the Serviço Nacional de Investigação Criminal (SERNIC) in #Mozambique with training to support the optimal utilisation of the SERNIC Control Centre we helped refurbish last year. The training program focuses on intelligence collection, collation, analysis & dissemination as well as the use of intelligence in investigations of wildlife crime. One course has already been completed, with two more to come this year. The Wildlife Justice Commission is committed to continue enhancing the capability of local law enforcement to address the threat of illegal wildlife trade. 🦏🐘 Find out more about the project 👇 #WildlifeTrafficking #CapabilityBuilding #Mozambique #LawEnforcement #WildlifeProtection #postkodeffekten #projectforchange 

An updated report released this week by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows a clear majority of States support a new global agreement to prevent and combat wildlife trafficking. According to our preliminary analysis at the request of #Angola, 78% of responding States are either in favour of a potential additional Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) on tackling wildlife trafficking, or are open to discussing it. "We look forward to working with States, and our International Champions, supporters, technical experts and partners, in advancing these strong calls for a new global agreement to tackle wildlife trafficking" - John Scanlon AO, Chair of The Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime ➡️Read our press release summarising the report and views of states: https://bit.ly/3GCJoJe ➡️Read UNODC report: https://bit.ly/41e0B5B #EndWildlifeCrime #UNODC #CCPCJ #WildlifeCrime #cop28 Alice Pasqualato, ADM Capital Foundation, Sophie le Clue Sam Inglis, Mark Jones, Liberty McCarthy, Lisa Genasci, Juliana Ferreira, Will Travers OBE, Winnie Kiiru PhD, John Cusack, Susan Lieberman, Olivia Swaak-Goldman

🚨 In a successful joint operation, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), supported by the Wildlife Justice Commission, arrested 2 major wildlife traffickers in #Nigeria on 16 & 17 May. These arrests are linked to the seizure of 1.58 tonnes of #ivory tusks at Lach Huyen International Port, #Vietnam on 27 March. Comprehensive intelligence-led investigations by the Wildlife Justice Commission in response to the Vietnam seizure led to the identification & location of both the alleged shipper & supplier of the ivory. This culminated in their swift apprehension by NCS within 6 weeks of the Vietnamese authorities reporting the seizure.   Since July 2021, the NCS-Wildlife Justice Commission partnership has led to the arrest of 29 suspects, the seizure of nearly 10 tonnes of pangolin scales & over 1 tonne of ivory. It has significantly disrupted Lagos-based criminal networks trafficking ivory and pangolin scales in Nigeria, with trafficking activities reaching their lowest level in five years. Read more about this significant operation in the fight against #wildlifetrafficking 👇   https://bit.ly/44UJwiF

Today, on World Wildlife Conservation Day, we’d like to bring attention to the global issue of illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and recognize the urgency to take action to curb this illicit trade. IWT “is estimated to be the fourth largest most profitable trafficking crime in the world behind only narcotics, arms, and human trafficking estimated at around $20 billion a year.” – David Fein, Co-Chair of United for Wildlife and Vice Chair of the Earthshot Prize, speaking as a guest at ACAMS Live last week, where he shed light on the immense scale and devastating impact of IWT. David emphasized the crucial role of public-private partnerships in addressing this criminal activity and highlighted a multinational agreement announced at the United for Wildlife Global Summit in Singapore. He also discussed the actions that anti-financial crime professionals can take to combat IWT. If you missed the insightful discussion on this topic, you can watch the recording – links in the comments below. To further understand the crucial role financial crime professionals like yourself can play in combating IWT, download our free social impact certificate on Ending Illegal Wildlife Trade. This certificate is available in English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Spanish. https://bit.ly/3T7sKck #IWT #conservation #endwildlifecrime #AML

Southern Africa, despite historically having the lowest wildlife crime levels in #Africa, is now experiencing a notable increase, according to the ENACT Organised Crime Index by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC). #southafrica, #Mozambique, #Madagascar, and #Zimbabwe have witnessed a steady rise over the past four years. South Africa has become a key point for the trade of live animals and animal parts, with substantial growth observed from 2021 to 2023. The ENACT report establishes a connection between environmental crimes and the same networks engaged in drug trafficking. While organized crime is a concern in South Africa, efforts from government agencies and NGOs are underway to enhance enforcement and foster more effective collaborations. It is important we all work together to eradicate wildlife crime and advocate for international cooperation to preserve #SouthAfrica's extraordinary biodiversity. For more, read the full article in the comment section 🔗 Source: Wild Africa Fund #wildlifeprotection #sustainable #wildlife #southafrica #sustainableafrica #africa #sustainability #wildliferescue #wildlifeconservation #wildlifeonearth