News

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

3rd Global meeting of Wildlife Enforcement Networks The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in cooperation with its partners from the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) and with generous funding support from the United States of America convened the Third Global Meeting of Wildlife Enforcement Networks (WENs) on 21 to 22 August 2019, alongside the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP18) , in

For use of the media only; not an official document. JOINT PRESS RELEASE New study finds illegal trade in marine turtles persisting in Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam Geneva/Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 19 November 2019 — A newly released study [1] carried out by TRAFFIC and commissioned by the CITES Secretariat documents thousands of marine turtles and their parts found in seizures, in both physical and online markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam. At least 2,354 whole turtles, both live

Geneva/Lima, 4 October 2019 – Whilst poaching and wildlife trafficking in Africa and Asia have attracted considerable media and public attention in the past few years, far less has been heard about illegal wildlife trade in the Americas. Yet all is not well in this most biodiversity-rich region on our planet. Did you know 79,000 live animals of protected species were confiscated in Peru alone between 2000 to 2017? Earlier this week, a staggering 12.3 million CITES-listed seahorses were intercepted

Geneva, 20 September 2019: At the 73rd session United Nations General Assembly, the 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted its fourth resolution on tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife. With 13 references to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), including the recent 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (17-28 August 2019, Geneva), the UN General Assembly further recognizes CITES as the primary legal framework for regulating international