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Physical Inspection, Wood Identification, Risk Assessment and Forensics: Empowering Law Enforcement Officers to Tackle Illegal Timber Trade in Africa Kampala, 9 December 2024 – Healthy forests sustain biodiversity, livelihoods, and local economies. Home to most of the planet’s terrestrial species, forests provide millions of people with jobs, along with food and fuel for more than 90 percent of the world’s most vulnerable populations. When forests are threatened, so too are the benefits they provide and the survival of wildlife. To

The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime launches its 2023 Annual Report The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) has launched its Annual Report for 2023. The 2023 Annual Report highlights the successes and achievements of countries supported by ICCWC in combating wildlife and forest crime. The Consortium uses targeted and evidence-based approaches to strengthen criminal justice systems and provide coordinated support to enhance responses to wildlife crime. This includes technical assistance, intelligence-led global operations, capacity building, financial investigations

Launch of the World Wildlife Crime Report 2024: New data, trends, threats and possible solutions to combat illegal wildlife trade Vienna, 14 May 2024 The World Wildlife Crime Report 2024 was launched yesterday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria. This is the third report in a series following the 2020 and 2016 publications. The report provides an updated focus on trends in the illegal trade in wildlife species listed in the Convention on

From Seizure to Prosecution: ICCWC hosts first global Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference 1 May 2024 From 22 to 24 April 2024, global law enforcement agencies across customs, police, prosecution from more than 20 countries from South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Pacific, met as part of the first ICCWC Global Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade. The conference was organized by the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) and hosted by one of the five ICCWC partners, the World Customs

For use of the media only; not an official document. PRESS RELEASE Global arrests and seizures: WCO-INTERPOL Operation Thunder 2021 strikes wildlife and timber trafficking networks 30 November 2021 - A worldwide enforcement operation against wildlife and timber crime coordinated by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and INTERPOL has disrupted crime networks and seen hundreds of arrests worldwide. Codenamed Thunder 2021, the month-long (1-31 October) operation involved Customs, Police, financial intelligence units and wildlife and forestry enforcement agencies in 118

For use of the media only; not an official document. PRESS RELEASE The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime - Annual Report 2020 – Together Against Wildlife Crime The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime ( ICCWC ) has launched its Annual Report for the year 2020, titled Together Against Wildlife Crime. The report showcases how the Consortium’s partnerships with Member States and other stakeholders have helped enhance the capacity of customs, police, wildlife authorities and the entire criminal justice

FOLLOWING THE MONEY APPROACH: UNODC national workshop in Kenya and regional workshop for the Caribbean Region in Panama on "Recovering the proceeds from wildlife and forest crime" Two workshops addressing “Recovery of Proceeds of Crime from Wildlife and Forestry Offences” were organised by UNODC from 24-28 November 2014, in Naivasha, Kenya, and 1- 4 December 2014 in Panama City, Panama. The workshop in Naivasha, Kenya was a practical case-study based workshop, hosted by the Government of Kenya in cooperation with

LYON, France - An INTERPOL report has underlined the need for greater coordinated enforcement efforts worldwide to combat the illegal trade in bears to ensure that offenders are identified and prosecuted and that the illegal trade does not have a lasting impact on bear species. The “Assessment on Illegal Bear Trade” report by INTERPOL’s Environmental Security unit highlights in particular how poaching and the illegal trade of bears, their parts and derivatives continue on a large scale worldwide. With the

LYON, France – A five-month long INTERPOL-coordinated operation targeting wildlife trafficking in tigers and other big cats across Asia has resulted in the seizure of hundreds of animals and more than 160 arrests. Involving 13 countries, Operation PAWS (Protection of Asian Wildlife Species) also focused on lesser known species also in high demand by the black market, such as bears and pangolins. Wildlife traders using the internet and social media in certain countries were also investigated. Among the live animals

Expert group on timber analysis meets in Vienna Last week, UNODC with its partners of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) united efforts to tackle timber crimes by bringing together 30 experts from various disciplines to discuss issues related to timber trafficking and how the use of scientific methods can support law enforcement operations and judicial responses to this crime. Experts from around the world gathered in Vienna from 10 – 12 December to look at the timber