Introduction
Βirds constitute an intricate component of ecosystems, which we need for our own survival.
Ecosystems such as forests and the marine environment provide us with food, medicines and important raw materials. They keep the climate stable, oxygenate air and transform pollutants into nutrients. Birds play an important role in the effective functioning of these systems. As birds are high up in the food chain, they are also good indicators of the general state of our biodiversity. When they start disappearing it means that something is wrong with our environment and that we need to take action.
The EU's rich diversity of over 500 wild bird species has been facing severe threats for a long time. Urban sprawl and transport networks have fragmented and reduced bird habitats, intensive agriculture, forestry and fisheries and the use of pesticides have diminished their food supplies, and there has been a need to regulate illegal killing, taking and trading of wild birds to ensure that it does not damage populations. The main legal instruments in this field are the Bern Convention on Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Moreover, at EU level the most important legal tool for eradicating illegal killing, taking and trading of wild birds is the EU Wildlife Trade Regulation and the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking. Illegal trade in wildlife continues to grow irreducibly. By its very nature, it is almost impossible to obtain reliable figures for the value of illegal trafficking. It is estimated that illegal wildlife trade reaches 8 to 10 billion US dollars per year, but there are other estimates that double this sum. INTERPOL, the international criminal police organisation, considers that wildlife trafficking is the fourth most prolific type of illegal trafficking in the world, after trafficking in drugs, humans, and counterfeit products. Between 20 000 and 30 000 elephants are thought to be illegally killed in Africa every year. In South Africa alone, more than 1 000 rhinoceroses were illegally killed in 2013; for a rhino horn about 40 000 euro per kilo is paid, more than for gold.