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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
Showing posts by Sophie Le Clue.
  • It’s Time for the World to Treat Wildlife Crime as Serious and Organized Crime

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  Guest Contributor  //  September 2, 2021  //  By Sophie Le Clue

    Customs officers seize ivory tusks, rhino horn and leopard skins, with a street value of around four million Euro, at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise headquarters in Hong Kong, China, 08 August 2013. This large seizure of wildlife products bound from Nigeria was disguised as timber inside two containers. It is the latest in a recent surge of wildlife seizures that underline Hong Kong's role as a pivotal transhipment point for illicit wildlife products bound from Africa to a booming underground market in mainland China. The growing middle class in China is driving the market for carved ivory trinkets made from elephant tusks, as well as rhino horn which is taken as a so-called aphrodisiac or medicinal tonic. The illegal trade is driving many iconic African animal species to extinction, as well as funding armed terrorist groups in the horn of Africa.

    On August 18, 2021, we witnessed a potential game-changer in the fight against international wildlife crime (IWT). One of the world’s leading wildlife trafficking hubs, Hong Kong, voted to change its laws to treat wildlife Crime as “Organized and Serious Crime.” From 2010 to 2020, local authorities valued wildlife seizures in the city at more than HK$1 billion (USD128.5 million), but the scale of the illicit trade passing through Hong Kong has likely been many times larger.

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