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World Wildlife Crime Report-2024

Source: CITES
GS III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment


Overview

World Wildlife Crime Report-2024
Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash
  1. News in Brief
  2. How it helps

Why in the News?

The 3rd edition of the World Wildlife Crime Report (WWCR)-2024 was released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

News in Brief

  • The report provides an updated focus on trends in the illegal trade in wildlife species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
  • It presents a systematic analysis of wildlife crime harms and impacts, probes the factors driving wildlife trafficking trends, and takes stock of current knowledge about the effectiveness of the different types of interventions being pursued to resolve wildlife crime.
Key Facts World Wildlife Crime Report-2024

  • World Wildlife Crime Report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
  • It probes trends in the illicit trafficking of protected wildlife species.
  • It also presents systematic analyses of
    • Wildlife crime harms and impacts
    • Probes the factors driving wildlife trafficking trends
    • Takes stock of current knowledge about the effectiveness of the different types of intervention being pursued to resolve this problem.
  • The seizure data in the report documents illegal trade in 162 countries and territories during 2015–2021.
  • Impacted around 4,000 plant and animal species—3,250 of which are listed in the CITES Appendices.
  • illegal trade appeared to have contributed to local or global extinctions of species, disrupted ecosystems and undermined the many socioeconomic benefits that people derive from nature.
  • Species worst affected by wildlife trafficking include rhinoceros (29%), pangolins (28%), elephants (15%), turtles & tortoises (2%), seahorses (2%), carnivores (2%), parrots (2%), snakes (2%), crocodilians (5%), and eels (5%).
  • Seizures included 444 mammal species, 751 birds, 405 reptiles, and 52 amphibians. According to the Indian Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the conservation status of these species is ‘Threatened’, ‘Near Threatened’, ‘Least Concerned’, and stable or increasing.
  • Commodities in trade from trafficked animals include live (15%), others (28%), medicines (10%), coral pieces (16%), and ivory, meat, roots, bodies, small leather products, shells, and extracts (31%).
Recommendation to reduce Wildlife Crime

  • Strong coherence and harmonisation across the trade chain, strong international cooperation and increased investment to build data and analytical capacity at national and international levels.
  • It also flagged corruption and technology as areas that should be looked into.
  • Criminal justice responses should be modernised, strengthened and harmonised.
  • Driving multiple environmental and societal harms, interventions to reduce wildlife trafficking needed to be prioritised and more strategic.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a significant international agreement aimed at protecting endangered plants and animals from over-exploitation through international trade. It was established in 1973 and has since become one of the most influential wildlife conservation agreements globally.

Key Facts

  • Establishment: CITES was adopted in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 1973, and came into force on July 1, 1975.
  • Member States: As of January 2022, CITES has 183 member countries, making it one of the largest conservation agreements in the world.
  • Regulation: The treaty regulates international trade in over 38,000 species of plants and animals, including their products and derivatives, ensuring that such trade does not threaten their survival.
  • Appendices: CITES categorizes species into three appendices based on the level of protection they require:
    • Appendix I: Species threatened with extinction. Trade in these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
    • Appendix II: Species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction but could become so if trade is not regulated.
    • Appendix III: Species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES parties for assistance in controlling the trade.

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