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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

Wildlife enforcement networks from around the world meet to further strengthen collaborative efforts against wildlife crime Geneva, 26 August 2019 – The most recent global wildlife enforcement operation, codenamed Operation Thunderball , involved 109 countries. It resulted in over 1,800 seizures across all continents and the arrest of close to 600 suspects. The operation, which took place in June, also triggered multiple investigations and prosecutions worldwide. Such successful wildlife law-enforcement operations demonstrate what can be achieved when CITES Parties work

PRESS ADVISORY International consortium to strengthen global action on combating wildlife crime Geneva,15 August 2019 - The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) will host three high-profile events at this month’s CITES conference to draw attention to activities for enabling authorities to effectively respond to wildlife crime and the organized crime groups behind such crimes. The ICCWC is a collaboration involving the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the

For use of the media only; not an official document. JOINT PRESS RELEASE Wildlife trafficking: organized crime hit hard by joint INTERPOL-WCO global enforcement operation Geneva/Lyon/Brussels, 10 July 2019 – A joint worldwide customs and police operation has resulted in the seizure of large quantities of protected flora and fauna across every continent. From 4 – 30 June, INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization (WCO) coordinated Operation Thunderball, with police and customs administrations leading joint enforcement operations against wildlife and

For use of the media only; not an official document. PRESS RELEASE Month-long transcontinental operation hit wildlife criminals hard The largest ever global operation results in 1,974 seizures and the identification of 1,400 suspects 1.3 tonnes of elephant ivory, 8 tonnes of pangolins scales, 4,000 birds and 27,000 reptiles among the specimens seized Geneva, 19 June 2018 – An international operation against the illegal trade in wild animals and plants including timber has seen hundreds ofseizures worldwide as well as

Geneva / Maputo, 7 May 2018 - Over 60 representatives from 24 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, and from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, met in Maputo, Mozambique, from 1 to 4 May 2018, to discuss the development and implementation of National Ivory Action Plans (NIAPs) . The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) requires from a number of its Parties that they develop and implement NIAPs to strengthen their controls

JOINT PRESS RELEASE Fight against wildlife crime gets a USD20 million boost Geneva 29 November – At an event held alongside the 69th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee (SC69), the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) announced generous new funding of USD20 million to scale up the fight against illegal wildlife trade. The significant new funding will be provided by the European Union (EU) (EUR 13,500,000), Germany (EUR 400,000) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

For use of the media only; not an official document. JOINT PRESS RELEASE Links between corruption and wildlife crime highlighted at UN anti-corruption conference VIENNA, 6 November 2017 — The Secretariat of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) spearheaded a number of events at the 7thsession of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC CoSP7, Vienna

Plenary: Remarks by John E. Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General 7th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption Vienna, 6-10 November 2017 Thank you President and thank you for giving CITES the opportunity to address today’s Plenary session, which is a first for the Convention. I would also like to express our sincere thanks to Executive Director Yury Fedotov and his good team for their extraordinary support for CITES and the fight against wildlife