Introduction to Biodiversity and Wildlife Trafficking
Introduction (1/3)
Wildlife trafficking is defined as the illegal [cross-border] trade in animals and plants taken from the wild, including trade in timber and fish. Much of the trade in animals and plants is legal. Globally, it involves about 100 million transactions per year and its value is estimated at several billion euro.
There is, however, also a considerable amount of illegal trade in animals and plants. Precise data on its volume are difficult to obtain. Tourists, collectors and other persons like to bring exotic animals or plants back from their journeys or acquire them at home. In some parts of the world, traditional medicine attributes to bones, skins or organs of animals, to herbs or leaves from plants, positive effects on health or sexuality. Sometimes, prices are very high. The horn of a rhinoceros is estimated to cost around 40,000 euro per kilo, raw ivory more than 600 euro per kilo, and tiger bones up to 900 euro per kilo.
Rare exotic birds may cost more than 1,000 euro each. It is obvious that such black market prices increase the temptation to join in wildlife trafficking.
For a number of years, wildlife trafficking has even considerably increased. This has several causes: first tourism increases. Many people in North America or Europe like to bring exotic souvenirs back from their journeys. Secondly, there is an increasing demand in Asia for animal products such as ivory from elephants, rhinoceros horns, bones from lions, tigers and other animals etc. Thirdly, organised criminal groups have discovered that the risk in wildlife trafficking and sanctions is low, but the profits are high; this has led to increased, systematically organised trafficking in wildlife, in particular from Southern Africa to Asia. Furthermore, the demand for pet animals - parrots, other birds, reptiles, - but also for products from tropical timber (mahogany, teak and etc.) has increased considerably in the developed countries. Illegal logging is thought to involve about thirty per cent of the global timber trade, and illegally caught fish to make up almost twenty per cent of all fish catches. Poverty, weak governments, instability and crisis situations, a general lack of enforcement of existing provisions and insufficiently deterrent sanctions contribute to the flourishing of wildlife trafficking.
