Friday 17 October 2014

It is exactly 1 month since my first post. Hence, today's blogpost shall be a summary of what I have learnt about illegal wildlife trafficking. 


Drivers of Illegal Wildlife Trade
1. Medicinal Purposes
2. Culture and Tradition
3. Livelihood of Poor
    - High profit, Low Risk
4. Luxurious Items; Indicator of Wealth
    - Creation of demand by the Affluent  
5. Corrupted Personnel
    - Trafficking of animals requires the movement of the organisms across countries. Corrupted personnel increases the ease to move the organisms across.
6. Banning of wildlife trade
   - Illegalisation of wildlife products led to a surge in prices for such products, increasing incentives for poachers.



Explanation for ecological deterioration tends to blame the poor. 
Even though majority of the poaching and hunting of wildlife are done by the poor, I feel that it is not right to blame the poor at all for the rise in illegal wildlife trafficking! In most places where illegal wildlife poaching is very prevelant, jobs are scarce, and even if you have a job, most people are not paid enough. Given this situation, it is hard to blame the people for turning to the environment to supplement their income to provide for their family. 
For example, when a family member falls sick, it is hard for people living in poverty to afford for medical bills. However, by hunting in the forest, say for a rhinoceros horn, the person could easily sell their kill, which would then be used to pay for their medical bills. 

Hence, instead of always blaming the poor for the exploitation of wildlife, one should consider what is the underlying reasons for their exploitations.

Commodification of wildlife could help protect or destroy nature.


A change in perception in human will change what is considered as a resource. Its the resourcefulness of humans that decides what is a resource. When wildlife ceases to be part of our human resources, wildlife trafficking would naturally disappear.


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