Crusade to rescue wildlife from extinction
ENVIRONMENT Secretary Michael Gove will next month lead a global crusade against the £17billion illegal trade in wildlife which has put elephants, rhinos and tigers on the fast track to extinction.
He will host 1,000 experts, heads of Government and fellow ministers in London in a drive to stamp out poaching, take on organised crime and smother demand for items such as ivory, rhino horn, tiger skins and timber from tropical rainforests.
Adding extra urgency to the international campaign are fears that cash from the trade is used to fund terrorism in the Africa and beyond.
The wildlife smuggling underworld is huge and rated the fourth largest illegal global trade after narcotics, counterfeiting and human trafficking.
But wildlife trade monitors Traffic, said the £17billion figure does not include illegal fisheries which could be worth another £17billion worldwide.
Meanwhile, a Governmentcommissioned report launched today says that leaders in regions such as the Far East can help snuff out demand for products such as ivory and rhino horns by making reporting illegal products and traders a “patriotic” duty.
The study by World Wild Fund, Traffic, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford found that in countries such as China and Vietnam a call to patriotism can have a big impact.
Britain is helping fight the poachers by sending troops to train rangers in countries such as Gabon and Malawi, passing on skills honed on the front line during conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is also funding protection schemes for species including the critically-endangered hawksbill turtle, the helmeted hornbill and the pileated gibbon.
Mr Gove, who has made tackling the trade a personal priority, told the Daily Express: “The stakes are high and time is not on our side.
“Wildlife crime drives species to the very edge of existence. It harms local communities and brings violence to people’s lives.”
He added: “We must act or face the real possibility that future generations will know elephants only from books, photos or films – an unthinkable prospect.”
Shocking figures from Traffic reveal the scale of the trade – and the damage it is doing to endangered species. They include: On average 55 elephants are killed every day in an African poaching bloodbath. As a result populations are declining by eight per cent every year which is higher than the rate of reproduction. Tanzania has lost 61 per cent of its elephants since 2009.
Rhino poaching is increasing at a dramatic rate. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached in South Africa but by 2015 the toll reached 1,175 out of a global population of fewer than 30,000.
One in three parrot species face extinction in South America, caused mainly by the illegal pet trade.
The reclusive pangolin – the world’s only scaled mammal found in Africa and Asia – is the world’s most illegally-traded mammal. Since 2000 at least 17,000 pangolins have been trafficked each year. They are eaten and scales are thought to have medicinal value.
Rosewood is the most traded plant species threatening the sustainability of native populations.
1,755 tigers were taken between 2000 and 2015 – an average of more than two animals per week. Poachers might only be paid £35 for a live chimpanzee which could eventually sell for £14,000.
The London summit will build on a series of previous International Wildlife Trade conferences including the last one in Hanoi, Vietnam, which was addressed by Prince William who has championed protecting endangered species.
Environment Minister Therese Coffey added: “Together, we can disrupt the criminality that is destroying flora and fauna on an unprecedented scale.”