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.
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!
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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