The London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade was held yesterday with the participation of leaders and delegates from 46 nations, including Vietnam, and concluded with a declaration to combat illegal wildlife trade.
The declaration details a series of urgently required actions which have been identified as a result of the conference, including eradicating consumer and market demand for wildlife products, addressing corruption within wildlife crime law enforcement, and recruiting more law enforcement officers. States are also strongly encouraged to ensure that wildlife crimes are treated as serious crimes, with consistent prosecutions and appropriate penalties that serve as a deterrent, and to destroy their own stockpiles of confiscated contraband such as rhino horn and elephant ivory.
The international commitment to these goals, which are strongly aligned with ENV’s own efforts and strategies of tackling crime, reducing consumer demand and advocating for strong decision-making in the interests of conservation in Vietnam, is encouraging. It is now up to governments, UN agencies, NGOs and the general public in home range, transit and market countries to work together to achieve them. This is where the real battle begins. The progress in preserving the world’s rich diversity and iconic species such as the elephant and rhino will be addressed in a follow-up conference in Botswana in early 2015.
The declaration in full can be read here:https://www.gov.uk/
Photo courtesy of Dan Kitwood
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