23 April 2013: At the meeting of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) in Vienna, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and John Scanlon, Secretary-General, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), called on the international community to strengthen its response to wildlife crime through legislation, law enforcement, criminal analysis and international cooperation.

According to the latest UNODC report on transnational organized crime in East Asia and the Pacific, released last week, the total value of the illegal wildlife trade in this region is estimated at $2.5 billion, while the illegal trade in wood-based products is worth $17 billion, an amount comparable to the value of illegal trafficking of people, drugs and counterfeit goods in the region.

Fedotov highlighted that in many cases, inadequate laws and sanctions, poor resources and lack of capacity hinder a strong response to wildlife crime. Scanlon added that to seriously address wildlife crime, the entire enforcement chain must work together to ensure that seizures lead to investigations, prosecutions and convictions.

Wildlife crime, beyond destroying wildlife and forest resources, also stimulates money-laundering, the finance of non-state actors, murder and violence. The heads of UNODC and CITES called for more countries to ratify the two conventions and to better implementation. These two organizations, along with INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Bank, are part of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), which works to coordinate efforts to prevent the criminal exploitation of flora and fauna. [CITES Press Release] [UNODC Press Release] [Publication: Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific: A threat assessment] [ICCWC Website]