28 research outputs found
Poaching is more than an enforcement problem
No full textToday record levels of funding are being invested in enforcement and anti-poaching measures to tackle the “war on poaching,” but many species are on the path to extinction. In our view, intensifying enforcement effort is crucial, but will ultimately prove an inadequate long-term strategy with which to conserve high-value species. This is because: regulatory approaches are being overwhelmed by the drivers of poaching and trade, financial incentives for poaching are increasing due to rising prices and growing relative poverty between areas of supply and centres of demand, and aggressive enforcement of trade controls, in particular bans, can increase profits and lead to the involvement of organised criminals with the capacity to operate even under increased enforcement effort. With prices for high-value wildlife rising, we argue that interventions need to go beyond regulation and that new and bold strategies are needed urgently. In the immediate future, we should incentivise and build capacity within local communities to conserve wildlife. In the medium term, we should drive prices down by reexamining sustainable off-take mechanisms such as regulated trade, ranching and wildlife farming, using economic levers such as taxation to fund conservation efforts, and in the long-term reduce demand through social marketing programs
Towards informed and multi-faceted wildlife trade interventions
No full textInternational trade in wildlife is a key threat to biodiversity conservation. CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, seeks to ensure international wildlife trade is sustainable, relying on trade bans and controls. However, there has been little comprehensive review of its effectiveness and here we review approaches taken to regulate wildlife trade in CITES. Although assessing its effectiveness is problematic, we assert that CITES boasts few measurable conservation successes. We attribute this to: non-compliance, an over reliance on regulation, lack of knowledge and monitoring of listed species, ignorance of market forces, and influence among CITES actors. To more effectively manage trade we argue that interventions should go beyond regulation and should be multi-faceted, reflecting the complexity of wildlife trade. To inform these interventions we assert an intensive research effort is needed around six key areas: (1) factors undermining wildlife trade governance at the national level, (2) determining sustainable harvest rates for, and adaptive management of CITES species, (3) gaining the buy-in of local communities in implementing CITES, (4) supply and demand based market interventions,(5) means of quantifying illicit trade, and (6) political processes and influence within CITES
Playing the CITES game: Lessons on global conservation governance from African megafauna
No full textGrowing awareness and concern over environmental issues has been accompanied by a proliferation of international environmental agreements during the last half‐century. Among these, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), stands out as one of the oldest and strongest influences on global biodiversity conservation policy. However, the effectiveness of CITES has been questioned—for various reasons and from various quarters—with a range of differing opinions. To provide further insight on this issue we drew from and built upon recent advances in the environmental governance literature to develop an approach to analysing how the CITES‐centred wildlife trading regime influences actor behaviour. After developing a rule‐categorised framework to analyse the structure of the treaty, we conducted dynamic analysis of actor behaviour using case study material on CITES‐listed African megafauna species (elephants, rhinoceroses, and lions), examining recent developments over a five‐year period (2016–2020). Drawing on this material, we further applied institutional diagnostics to gain insight into the conservation effectiveness of the CITES regime. Our analysis of these case studies suggests that CITES can be gamed by special interest groups and that its institutional design facilitates the evolution of an international prohibition regime. Our research produces novel insights into the operation of this process and raises concerns about consequences for African biodiversity conservation. We conclude with recommendations for wildlife trade policy reform and further research
From Poachers to Protectors: Engaging Local Communities in Solutions to Illegal Wildlife Trade
No full textCombating the surge of illegal wildlife trade (IWT) devastating wildlife populations is an urgent global priority for conservation. There are increasing policy commitments to take action at the local community level as part of effective responses. However, there is scarce evidence that in practice such interventions are being pursued and there is scant understanding regarding how they can help. Here we set out a conceptual framework to guide efforts to effectively combat IWT through actions at community level. This framework is based on articulating the net costs and benefits involved in supporting conservation vs supporting IWT, and how these incentives are shaped by anti-IWT interventions. Using this framework highlights the limitations of an exclusive focus on "top-down", enforcement-led responses to IWT. These responses can distract from a range of other approaches that shift incentives for local people toward supporting conservation rather than IWT, as well as in some cases actually decrease the net incentives in favour of wildlife conservation
The emergence of a commercial trade in pangolins from Gabon
No full textRecent seizures of illegally-held wildlife indicate a mounting global trade in pangolins involving all eight species. Seizures of illegally-traded African pangolins are increasing as wild populations of Asian species decline. We investigated trade in pangolins and law enforcement efforts in Gabon; a country likely to have intact wild populations of three of the four species of African pangolin. We compared village sales and trade chains between 2002-3 and 2014. Hunters reported pangolins to be the most frequently requested species in 2014 and the value of pangolins had increased at every point along their trade chain. In Libreville, giant pangolin prices increased 211% and arboreal pangolin prices 73% whilst inflation rose only 4.6% over the same period. We documented a low rate of interception of illegally-traded pangolins despite increased law enforcement. Surveys of potential export routes detected exports across forest borders, in conjunction with ivory, but not through public transport routes. We conclude that whilst there is clear potential and ikelihood that a wild pangolin export trade is emerging from Gabon, traditional bushmeat trade chains may not be the primary supply route. We recommend adjusting conservation policies and actions to impede further development of illegal trade within and from Gabon
COVID ‐related changes in public attitudes toward wildlife consumption on a Chinese social media site
No full textWildlife consumption in China has been relatively common, which has led to a substantial wildlife farming industry and caused concern among some conservationists. The assumed link between COVID‐19 and wildlife consumption attracted significant public attention and led to a change in wildlife management policies in China. However, it is unclear how the Chinese public perceives wildlife consumption and whether they are supportive of the wildlife management policies introduced. We collected and analyzed 488,016 posts from a prominent Chinese social media site—Weibo—from September 1, 2019, to August 31, 2020. Our results suggest that during our study period, COVID‐19 dramatically altered people's attitudes toward wildlife consumption; following the emergence of the pandemic, posts spiked and overwhelmingly called for a stop to wildlife consumption. We selected pangolins, bats, wild pigs, and snakes for in‐depth analysis, where disease and conservation were the top themes discussed. When the wildlife consumption ban in China was introduced in February 2020, the majority of Weibo users supported it. However, not all users did, including those concerned about the wildlife farming industry and those questioning the link between COVID‐19 and wildlife consumption. Users also discussed traditional Chinese medicine, including its impacts on wildlife consumption, conservation, and medical efficacy. Our results indicated that understanding public sentiment is useful for evaluating support for conservation policies and interventions
Designing celebrity-endorsed behavioral interventions in conservation
No full textThe use of celebrity endorsement in environmental conservation interventions aiming to influence human behavior has increased in recent decades. Although good practice in designing, implementing, and evaluating behavioral interventions is outlined in recent publications, guidance on developing conservation interventions with celebrity endorsement remains limited. To fill this gap, we devised a guide for decision-making relating to celebrity-endorsed behavioral interventions based on the behavioral, project design, and celebrity endorsement literatures. The guide advises conducting research to understand the behavior system in question; defining endorser selection models and celebrities based on the research; developing an endorsement strategy with the appropriate communication channels; testing the celebrity, channels, and strategy with the target audience and making adjustments as needed; and, finally, evaluating the intervention after implementation. We applied this strategy to a case study, the aim of which was to design a celebrity-endorsed intervention to reduce consumption of wild meat in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Following our guide, we found that employing evidence-based decision-making substantially enhanced our ability to understand the complexity and potential cost associated with using celebrity endorsements in behavioral interventions
Protect the integrity of CITES: lessons from Japan's IWC withdrawal to keep polarization from tearing CITES apart
No full textUnsustainable wildlife trade is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Effective wildlife trade governance is critical for conservation and requires international cooperation and coordination to regulate an industry valued at hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Yet, due to increasing polarization over consumptive wildlife use, certain countries have become disenfranchised by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the primary mechanism for regulating international wildlife trade. Tensions within CITES are rising over the elephant ivory and rhino horn trade, where polarization has pushed ten Southern African Development Community countries to suggest an outright withdrawal from CITES. The denunciation of CITES by such a large and ecologically significant bloc would substantially weaken the integrity, credibility, and stature of the Convention. There is a contemporary precedent to reference: Japan left the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 2019 due to polarization over commercial whaling. Here, we examine the common threads between these two cases: changing organizational ethos, polarization amongst members, influence of non‐state actors, and loss of decidability for dissenting nations. Taking critical lessons from Japan's IWC withdrawal, we propose various options for structural reforms in CITES to restore decidability, enable equitability, and implement inclusive decision‐making
A theory of change to improve conservation outcomes through CITES
No full textUnderstanding the effectiveness of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) is critical to addressing international environmental issues. Here we articulate the implied theory of change (ToC) underpinning the design and operation of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), based on an analysis of the Convention’s documented evolution. We use this as a framework to critically evaluate the effectiveness of the Convention, with respect to its stated aims, using a range of theoretical and empirical insights. Although achieving success in various ways, CITES is proving ineffective at deterring illegal and/or unsustainable exploitation of many listed species for international trade, which we attribute to implementation and compliance issues and the Convention’s design, including a principal focus on deterrence through state-led law enforcement. Informed by this analysis we develop a modified ToC which could support more effective implementation of CITES. This ToC is intended for application at the species level and incorporates an in-depth examination of the social-ecological systems (SESs) within which species are harvested, used, and traded. This species-system ToC explicitly considers formal and informal institutions, and the use of institutional diagnostics to inform potential revisions to institutional arrangements along supply chains. We argue that taking this approach when considering whether and how to implement trade measures under CITES could enhance the effectiveness of these measures in reducing overexploitation and support legal, traceable, and more ecologically and socially sustainable international trade in wild species. Finally, we highlight the role that CITES could play in the broader global biodiversity governance regime; better alignment with other relevant MEAs could lead to more effective biodiversity conservation overall
