Duke sets up task force to disrupt trade by poachers
THE Duke of Cambridge will today launch a financial task force to disrupt international money flows linked to the illegal wildlife trade as part of a British-led diplomatic effort to end the global poaching crisis.
More than 30 international banks and financial institutions will pledge to train staff to identify and share intelligence on suspicious transactions linked to the illegal trade in elephant ivory, rhino horn, and other endangered species’ body parts.
They will also sign up to an intelligence-sharing financial task force led by United for Wildlife, a Royal Foundation-run charity chaired by William Hague, the former foreign secretary.
The global trade in illegal wildlife is thought to be worth £18billion annually and has been linked to organised crime groups engaged in money laundering, corruption, and trafficking drugs, weapons, and people.
Scientists estimate just 415,000 elephants survive in Africa.
The Duke will be among dignitaries attending the international conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in London tomorrow. The conference, hosted by Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary and Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, follows up on a similar conference in 2014 that led to a ban on the ivory trade in China.
Eighteen African governments will also present their own national elephant protection initiatives.
The event is expected to discuss creation of wildlife corridors to link up fragmented populations and engagement with local communities.