24 June 2013: At the G8 Summit held from 17-18 June 2013, at Lough Erne, the United Kingdom, G8 leaders noted in their communiqué that the fight against illegal trade in wildlife is as important as fighting corruption, transnational organized crime and the illicit trafficking of drugs and people.

Reflecting on the outcomes of the G8 Summit, John Scanlon, Secretary-General, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), noted that the G8 support is timely and builds on the outcomes of the APEC Leaders’ Summit in Vladivostok and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). He emphasized that it also lends additional support to the efforts of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) to assist national and regional enforcement agencies and networks in the fight against illicit wildlife trade. This is especially timely, as illegal trade in Africa is driving species to extinction and funding criminal gangs like the Lord’s Resistance Army.

G8 leaders also recognized the benefits provided by internationally established environmental and social standards in ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources in developing countries, an approach also bolstered by CITES through its regulation of international wildlife trade. [CITES Press Release] [G8 Lough Erne’s G8 Leaders Communiqué]