NAIROBI, Kenya — Conservations and wildlife activists are not the only ones who should be concerned with poaching. The illegal trade in animal products affects poverty levels and security measures as well as the environment.
The United Nations Environmental Assembly met for the first time in late June in Nairobi. It will reconvene every two years and produce plans for future policy on the environment. This year, the thriving illegal wildlife trade was on the agenda, due to a joint report published in the same month by the U.N. and INTERPOL. The report, entitled Environmental Crime Crisis, shows that environmental crimes like unlawful logging and illegal trade in charcoal and ivory harm global security.
Although illegal wildlife trade is a relatively new issue for militaries, it has been of concern to conservationists and poverty activists for years. Poaching is particularly worrying in parts of Africa, where big game like elephants and rhinos make easy and profitable targets.
Over the past two years, 60,000 elephants and 1,600 rhinos have fallen victim to poachers, according to the Wildlife Conservation. An estimated that 20,000 to 25,000 elephants were killed out in 2013 alone, along with 1,000 rhinos. On top of this, over 1,000 rangers have been killed while protecting the animals.
Because of the high demand for ivory in Asia, poaching is a lucrative business. Illegal wildlife trade produces $19 billion per year, more than small arms, diamonds, gold or oil. A recent Congressional Research Service report found that a rhino horn is worth $30,000 to $50,000 per kilogram on average on the black market, although some go for as high as $192 million.
This profitable industry is causing a toll on the environment. “The high demand for wildlife products is having a devastating impact, with iconic species like elephants and rhinos facing the risk of significant decline or even extinction,” says Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell.
But poaching does not just concern elephants and rhinos; it is a poverty-driven problem. Groups like the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and TRAFFIC produced a report in December of 2013 that outlines how poverty is related to poaching. It has long been speculated that there is a correlation, but this report offers the first hard evidence.
The report uses infant mortality as an indicator of poverty and states that “sites suffering from higher levels of poverty [are]experiencing higher levels of elephant poaching.” The areas of study with the highest infant mortality rates were Ziama in Guinea, Niassa in Mozambique and Bangassou in the Central African Republic, each ranging from 1,240 to 1,400 deaths per 10,000 live births. These areas also had extremely high levels of poaching.
The report went on to explain that “there may be a greater incentive to facilitate or participate in the illegal killing of elephants in areas where human livelihoods are insecure.” Essentially, when communities live in crippling poverty, parents go to extreme lengths to feed their children.
However, there are methods to reduce reliance on poaching in impoverish populations that have proven successful. Tanzania and Kenya have a three-part strategy that involves creating sustainable methods of income for communities, stronger government and law enforcement intervention and a reduction in the demand for wildlife products. “These three themes resonate with the wider international discussion on how to address the illegal wildlife trade crisis,” says Helen Clark, an administrator of UN Development Programme.
Dale Lewis, founder of Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO,) has another idea. Lewis believes that to help the endangered animals, solutions must benefit the people. Poachers must be able to find other lines of profitable work. COMACO, which was started in 2001, tackles this idea. The organization based in Zambia trains locals in sustainable industries like farming, bee keeping and craft making. COMACO then buys the locals’ products at a high cost and sells then in Zambian stores with the brand “It’s Wild.” In return, COMACO members are not permitted to poach or use environmentally damaging techniques like slash and burn farming. COMACO now has 40,000 members and poaching in is regions of operation is decreasing.
Illegal wildlife trade is also a threat to global security. The industry provides easy money that funds operations of militias and terrorist groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army and al-Qaeda. It is estimated that 40 percent of al-Shabaab’s operations are funded by the illegal ivory trade. To make matters worse, the number of groups involved in poaching is rising. Only 50 insurgent groups were killing rhinos for their horns in 2007. This number rose to 1,000 by 2013.
It is far easier to combat the illegal wildlife trade industry than a fully armed al-Qaeda, and the United States has recently become involved in the fight. Hillary Clinton ordered an intelligence review of the wildlife trafficking’s affect on U.S. security as Secretary of State. This prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to create a task force to develop an anti-poaching strategy that will be published this year. “The president’s strategy to combat wildlife trafficking… is important to strengthen our nation’s leadership on countering the global security threat posed by the criminal markets that encourage poaching and illegal trade,” says Jewell.
Overall, poaching is not just a problem for wildlife activists and natural preserve rangers. Illegal wildlife trade is closely tied to poverty and global security, and solutions to target poaching should take this into consideration.
– Caitlin Thompson
Sources: The Washington Post, Times Live, UN News Centre 1, NDTV, VICE, The Chronicle Herald, UN News Centre 2, Reuters, Slate, Huffington Post, TIME, COMACO
Photo: WWF