Could the Legalisation of trade be just a cover for Laundering Wildlife?

South Africa has been pushing hard for the legalisation of wildlife trade, specifically in the sales of rhinoceros’ horns. The idea behind legalisation of wildlife trade is to combat the uncontrollable poaching of the animals. However, I do not agree that legalisation of the trade would be a viable solution to the problem. Instead, legalisation of the trade of wildlife products will only worsen the situation, exacerbating the market for such products.

There are indeed some success examples showcasing how legalisation can help save an animal from extinction, such as the vicuña wool. However, it is unlikely for such results to be replicated in other wildlife products such as horns, ivories and bear bile. How could the shearing of an animal for its wool be compared to the abstraction of an internal biological fluid from another animal?

Besides, legalisation of wildlife trade would work if and only if the legal supply is able to meet the demand. Speaking at a debate organised by environmental research organisation Earthwatch at the Royal Geographical Society on 17 October, Rice said: “Legal trade is not the solution for the long term survival of elephants and rhinos in the wild. “Opening markets without fully understanding the impact of these markets is extremely high risk - and even if it is just slightly off the mark, it is irreversible.”

Stockpile of Rhinoceros' horn

The push for the legalisation of trade could be due to certain underlying reasons. For example, the huge amount of profit that can be made from the country through the sales of confiscated good is enormous. Could legalisation of the trade be just a cover for laundering wildlife? There are huge stockpile of rhinoceros’ horns and elephants’ ivory, either through confiscation or natural death of the animal. Hence, people supporting the legalisation of trade stand to gain a large profit from it. In the end, legalisation of trade is just about the money, and not for the conservation of the animals. 

Is Banning the Bane of wildlife?

1979, that was the year where over a 100 countries agreed to push for the ban in the trading of rhinoceros’ horns. However, over 30 years after the agreement, an estimated 1000 rhinoceros were killed for their horns in 2013, an increase from around 668 in the year 2012. Considering the ban on the trade of rhinoceros’ horns, why then have the slaughtering of rare animals not ceased, but instead, are still prevailing and rising? In this blogpost, I will be discussing about the possibility of reducing illegal wildlife trafficking through the legalisation of such trade.

Could legalisation of trade be the way to go to protect these animals?

“Since the trade ban was imposed in China 14 years ago, prices of tiger parts (such as penises, paws and bones) had surged sky high on the black market[1]”. The ban on wildlife products have raised the values of these products significantly, as it makes it harder to hunt for the products, whereby only the skilful and the professional are capable enough to make use of the loopholes and flaws in the system. As the prices of wildlife products are driven sky high by the ban on the products, removing the ban could potentially increase the supplies of products in the market through a sustainable farming (click to read more about sustainable farming of animal products such as the rhinoceros’ horns), and hence decreasing the price on the market.

 

Dehorning of a rhinoceros to protect it from poachers

As mentioned in the previous post, since animal products are often seen as a luxurious item, perhaps the increase in supply and, hence the decrease in price, would make such products less luxurious. (Assuming that the products are considered luxurious due to their scarcity and price) An example of success, in Peru, where the legalization of the sales of wool from vicuña helped to save the animal from extinction.  

The legalisation of sales of wool from vicuña helped increase its population size from a mere 5000 to more than 200000 today.

Would the legalisation of sustainable wildlife trading stimulate better protection from the suppliers' side? Is the legalisation of the sales a smart choice, or would it further aggravate the situation? In my next few blog posts, I will be further discussing about the pros and cons of legalising wildlife trade.  

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[1] http://www.asiabiotech.com/publication/apbn/11/english/preserved-docs/1117n18/1196_1197.pdf

The Pen is Mightier than the Gun

As discussed before, the main driver of illegal wildlife trading is the demand of products created by the affluent. By definition, trafficking is the trading of products between different places or countries.[1] Therefore, for illegal wildlife trafficking to proceed, the products must be able to be transported away to the market. Again, by definition, poaching is the trespassing of an area to illegally take game.[2] Considering the two definitions I have mentioned, is it right that only the poachers are to be liable for illegal wildlife trafficking?

As the title of this blogpost suggests, I will be discussing about the facilitators of illegal wildlife trafficking, and how it exacerbates the problem of illegal wildlife trafficking.

http://speakupforthevoiceless.org/2013/02/18/environmentalism-chapter-23-understanding-poaching/

As mentioned above, for wildlife trafficking to proceed, it must first be transported out of the country. Hence, one of the main facilitators of illegal wildlife trafficking would be the personnel located at the point of entry or exit. “Corruption is seen as one of the most critical factors enabling illicit wildlife trafficking”[3]. Given that there are many ways that wildlife can be illegally transported out of a place or country, corrupted practices have increase the ease of which illegal products can be transported. A common form of corruption would simply be the receiving of payments from smugglers to officials to turn a blind eye to their act. For instance, as reported in People Newspaper, 17204, August 2002, 66% of customs officials of Tan Thanh, an important illegal wildlife trade exit point from Vietnam to China, accepted bribes and had links to illegal wildlife traders. Imagine the amount of illegal wildlife trade that could be have prevented!

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent David Bonham and others carry confiscated ivory to a crusher to be pulverized.

Since the illegal transaction of wildlife products cannot be complete without the help of some corrupted officials, it is important to ensure that officials are professional, and understand the problem and impact of illegal wildlife trafficking as well. Given the amount of illegal wildlife products officials will be facing with, as well as the high prices that have been placed on such items, it is imminent that some officials will be swayed. This further drives my point that officials have to be selected more strictly and more professionally.

As the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword, which is directly translatable into the situation of illegal wildlife trafficking. The fuel for the illegal wildlife trafficking is the ease at which poachers can smuggle and trade illegal products, which is a result of corrupted officials. Hence, should there be more stringent penalties against corruption, perhaps the number of illegal wildlife trafficking cases can be reduced.

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[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trafficking?s=t

[2] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/poaching?s=t

[3] http://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/answer/wildlife_crime_and_corruption

The Influence of the Affluent on Illegal wildlife trading

Before the era of humans, planet Earth have went through 5 mass extinctions, through glaciation events, massive volcanic eruptions, extra-terrestrial impacts etc, where exceptionally large number of species goes extinct. Unknown to many people, many researchers claim that the world in the midst of the 6th mass extinction event[1]. Although the causes of the previous 5 mass extinctions are theories that cannot be confirmed, what we can be sure of today is that the mass extinction event that we are currently in is largely due to the impact of humans, through our impacts have increased the rate of extinction by over a 1000 times.[2]

One of the contributing impacts humans have on the environment is the illegal trading of animals. The price tagged onto animals have led to an unsustainable hunting and capturing of the animals. It is hard for the animals to escape their fate, as like a vicious cycle, the more endangered or the rarer the animal, the higher the price it will fetch in the black market. This cycle pushes many animals onto the brink of extinction. As mentioned earlier in this blog, I will be discussing about what I feel is the main driver for illegal wildlife trading.


Confiscated illegal wildlife trafficking goods

“When the buying stops, the Killing can too[3].” In my opinion, the main driver for illegal wildlife trade is the rising affluence and the increasing disposable income in the consumers’ countries. As mentioned in the past blogpost, wildlife products have transited as a cultural product, to luxurious items, things people will buy to flaunt and to showcase their wealth. When a price is placed on an animal, it is naturally for people to seek out these bounty. Should there not be a monetary value placed on animals, perhaps the threat of illegal wildlife will cease to exist. As animals are illegally exploited without control for monetary benefits, the population of several animals spiral quickly. This reduction in their population size in turns drive up the prices placed onto them as they become harder and harder to catch, becoming more profitable for traders.


A dart shot onto an elephant

As the profit and difficulty for illegal trafficking of wildlife increase, the hunters will be forced to become more professional and specialised. This in turn leads to them spending money on better technology and equipment, such as tranquiliser guns, and more time searching in forests for the animals. As a result, hunters will gradually become more dependent on wildlife trading for their livelihood, and would be difficult for them to leave the trade. Hence, this shows that the main driver for the intensive and extensive wildlife trafficking is wealth, where the high values placed on wildlife are trapping both the hunters and hunted alike in a viscous cycle of supply and demand.

Therefore, I feel that for an effective campaign against illegal wildlife trafficking, the solution is not just about alleviating poverty, but rather, to educating the affluent.

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[1] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140218-kolbert-book-extinction-climate-science-amazon-rain-forest-wilderness/

[2] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140529-conservation-science-animals-species-endangered-extinction/

[3] http://www.wildaid.org/about

Making a Living, or Making a Killing?

This blogpost will mostly be referencing from a report done by the World Bank[1]. Details of the report can be obtained at the end of this post.

Natural forest ecosystems in Tam Dao national Parks, Vinh Phuc province

Close your eyes and imagine the sights and sound in Tam Dao National Park, Vietnam. A green and lush forest, with rays of sunlight filtering through the leaves. Imagine the sound of the rushing water from the nearby stream in the forest, with a gentle breeze brushing against your face. Sounds like a nature paradise? What I have just describe above is in fact what you would have observed in Tam Dao National Park, and just like what I did not mention above, there are no bird calls, no cricket chirping, no signs of animals at all. Birds, mammals, reptiles and even insect are not spared in the onslaught by humans on the forest wildlife. In fact, Tam Dao National Park is listed as an example of an “Empty Forest Syndrome”, where all the animals in the forest have been exploited and removed from the forest by illegal hunters and poachers to support their livelihood, by 

meeting the demand for products by the affluent.

In this blogpost today, I will be discussing about whether poverty is indeed the main driver of wildlife, or is there more than meets the eye.

Tortoises poached on the southern side of Madagascar

When thinking about the illegal trafficking of wildlife, people will naturally tend to think about the money and revenue that could be generated by such sales, which would then inevitably lead their thoughts into the people selling such products. This chain of thoughts would therefore point to the people that supplies the products as the cause of illegal wildlife trafficking. Although it is true that wildlife trafficking does generate income a significant income for the people, I do not agree that generation of revenue is the main driver for the rise in illegal wildlife trafficking. Contradictorily, I feel that the buyers are the one fuelling the increase in illegal wildlife trafficking.

A tiger being starved to death to be made into tiger wine, an expensive medical liquer.

As the title of this blog post suggests, illegal wildlife trafficking can be seen from 2 sides, where it can either be seen as ‘making a living’ or ‘making a killing’. It is undeniable that many people living in poverty depends on wildlife trading for their livelihood, where “the illegal extraction of forest products was the only activity available to generate the income necessary to buy rice.” However, these people are only able to depend on those sales because they have someone to sell it to. Because of the demand created by the affluent for rare wildlife products, it will in turn create the motivation for people to hunt the animals to meet the demand and claim the bounty.

An Inuit boy watches the head of a legally hunted polar bear set out to defrost. Polar bear is part of the Inuit ancestral food tradition.

Hence, I feel that should the demand for illegal wildlife products cease, the motivation for people to poach and hunt the animals will be gone, and the people would have to turn to something else more conventional for their livelihood. However, it will not be true to say that wealth is the only driver for illegal wildlife trade, as there are many other important drivers as well, and the drivers are more than often interconnected and interlinked.


Slow lorises have their front teeth cut or pulled before being sold as pets, a practice that often causes infection and death

"Trafficking relies on porous borders, corrupt officials, and strong networks of organized crime, all of which undermine our mutual security... Local leaders are telling their national leaders that they can lose control of large swaths of territory to these criminal gangs. Where criminal gangs can come and go at their total discretion, we know that begins to provide safe havens for other sorts of threats to people and governments." [2]

In my next blogpost, I will be discussing more about the other drivers of illegal wildlife trading and how it drives illegal wildlife trade to the scale it is today.

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[1] Going, Going, Gone: The illegal trade in wildlife in East and Southeast Asia; 

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEAPREGTOPENVIRONMENT/Resources/going-going-gone.pdf

[2] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

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