Ahead of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in October, Boris Johnson has announced that a joint effort will see £4.5 million used globally to assist.
The 2018 London Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference will be taking place in October. The British government has announced an ambitious new plan and funding for tackling the illegal wildlife trade across the world. The Secretaries of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Defra, and DFID announced a £44.5 million boost for anti-wildlife trafficking projects around the world.
The conference will bring together global leaders to help eradicate illegal wildlife trade and better protect the world’s most iconic species from the threat of extinction.
“More than 20,000 African elephants are killed every year, fuelling the despicable illegal ivory market and poachers’ dirty profits. We need immediate and effective global action to decapitate this terrible trade. The new Ivory Alliance 2024 will play a key role in closing those markets which are driving elephants to extinction.
The UK will be at the vanguard of global efforts to defeat the illegal wildlife trade in 2018 and we will bring world leaders together for talks in October to find a solution. We cannot simply sit back and watch as more endangered species are wiped out by criminal kingpins and corrupt middlemen who are robbing local communities in Africa and Asia of sustainable livelihoods.” – Boris Johnson, UK Foreign Secretary.
The Foreign Secretary set out the Government’s ambition to reduce the illegal killing of African elephants for ivory by at least one third by 2020, and to further halve this rate by 2024.
This announcement follows one made earlier this year when the UK government implemented one of the worlds toughest Ivory bans. Anyone found in violation of the ban could face up to five years in prison or an “unlimited fine”.
During the conference they aim to tackle organised crime, build coilitions and close down markets.
Facts and figures
- the illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be worth up to £17 billion a year (Source: European Commission, 2015)
- illegal ivory trade activity worldwide has more than doubled since 2007 (CITES, 2013)
- most African elephant poaching happens in Central Africa where poaching rates are twice the continental average (CITES, 2013)
- there have been substantial increases in rhino poaching in Africa in the past ten year – a minimum of 1,338 rhino were killed for their horn across Africa in 2015, the worst on record, and in 2016 the figure is believed to have fallen slightly, but poaching continues to be at an unacceptable level (IUCN,2016)
- the lives of those working hard to protect endangered wildlife are also at risk; in the last year, over 100 rangers have died in the line of duty, many at the hands of poachers (International Ranger Federation, 2017)
- there are believed to be as few as 3200 wild tigers remaining across their Asian range, more than a 95% decline from just over 100 years ago (UNODC, 2017)
- approximately 277,000 pangolins have been illegally traded since 2000, of which 137,870 were traded between 2005 and 2015 (CITES, 2017)
Seeing such a powerful country take a stand against the illegal wildlife trade gives us hope for the future.
'We owe it to future generations to save these species'
Foreign Secretary @BorisJohnson launches new Ivory Alliance to help close down ivory markets that are driving elephants to extinction.#EndWildlifeCrime pic.twitter.com/ONyBKIBoFq
— UK in South Africa🇬🇧 (@ukinsouthafrica) July 3, 2018
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