Singapore Law Watch’s Post

With an annual turnover of USD 199 million, the illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest illicit market in the world, after drugs, arms, and human trafficking. Amongst all known threats to wildlife, the illegal trade and consumption of wildlife is amongst the most significant and destabilizing. Moreover, the negative consequences of wildlife crime are not limited to natural ecosystems. Wildlife crime is organized, and transnational, is fuelled by corruption, and impacts local communities, national economies, security, and public health. In fact, wildlife crime has been the root cause of various pandemics, including COVID-19, due to increased exposure to zoonotic diseases. Despite the devastation associated with wildlife crime, there is no global agreement on wildlife crime, and existing wildlife trade laws are not adequately enforced. One organization working towards improving the policy around wildlife crime is The The Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime Crime (EWC), founded and chaired by John Scanlon AO, former Secretary General of CITES. EWC is an alliance of individuals and organizations that support the need for these law reforms. On this episode of The Think Wildlife Podcast, I speak to Alice Pasqualato, who is the policy advisor of EWS. We talk about all the great work EWS is doing to tackle wildlife crime. This includes the formation of the Pandemics Treaty and the addition of a Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC). https://lnkd.in/g6Q-HfZC

With an annual turnover of USD 199 billion, the illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest illicit market in the world, after drugs, arms, and human trafficking. Amongst all known threats to wildlife, the illegal trade and consumption of wildlife is amongst the most significant and destabilizing. Moreover, the negative consequences of wildlife crime are not limited to natural ecosystems. Wildlife crime is organized, and transnational, is fuelled by corruption, and impacts local communities, national economies, security, and public health. In fact, wildlife crime has been the root cause of various pandemics, including COVID-19, due to increased exposure to zoonotic diseases. Despite the devastation associated with wildlife crime, there is no global agreement on wildlife crime, and existing wildlife trade laws are not adequately enforced. One organization working towards improving the policy around wildlife crime is The The Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime Crime (EWC), founded and chaired by John Scanlon AO, former Secretary General of CITES. EWC is an alliance of individuals and organizations that support the need for these law reforms. On this episode of The Think Wildlife Podcast, I speak to Alice Pasqualato, who is the policy advisor of EWS. We talk about all the great work EWS is doing to tackle wildlife crime. This includes the formation of the Pandemics Treaty and the addition of a Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC). Substack: https://lnkd.in/gc2gJyVY YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gXBjVMG5

NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS NEW WILDLIFE LAW As the battle to preserve Nigeria’s wildlife intensifies, there is a growing consensus among conservationists, lawmakers, and concerned citizens alike that a comprehensive and strict wildlife law is badly needed. The existing laws and regulations fail to reflect the gravity and complexity of the current situation and appear to be inadequate to effectively combat illegal wildlife trade. Government agencies and NGOs are now rallying together to push for a new wildlife law. This proposed legislation aims to strengthen penalties for wildlife crime, enhance law enforcement capabilities and empower enforcement agencies to act decisively. In this report, our Environment Correspondent Laila Johnson-Salami, explores legislation under consideration and the role it could play in securing a future where the nation's wildlife can survive and thrive.

At Focused Conservation, we know that the fight against illicit wildlife trade demands more than just passion—it requires expertise, dedication, and collaboration. That's why we provide specialized training, knowledge, and resources to empower law enforcement and improve their capacity to protect wildlife. On October 15, 2024, our efforts paid off once again. Operation Silent Scorcher—a joint operation between law enforcement agencies and NGOs including Care for Wild and Focused Conservation—led to the arrest of notorious wildlife trafficking suspect Joseph "Big Joe" Nyalunga. Nyalunga, already out on bond for other serious crimes, was found with explosives and ammunition at his business premises. We will continue to apply our expertise to help protect wildlife and bring traffickers to justice. Stay with us as we push forward in this critical mission. #FocusedConservation #WildlifeProtection #ConservationHeroes #EndWildlifeTrafficking #SaveTheRhinos #StopPoaching #WildlifeTrafficking

'More than 400,000 songbirds were trapped and killed in Cyprus last autumn as part of a recent increase in wildlife crime,' writes Phoebe Weston for The Guardian. The article states that while the number of birds caught has been trending downwards over the past decade, last year marked an increase of 90,000 from 2022....with organised trappers continuing to make huge profits for little risk. Wildlife crime affects millions of species according to UNODC, not just the limited number of species protected under international law (source: https://lnkd.in/gYVQAfRb). 'Songbirds have low representation in CITES Appendices relative to their prevalence in all trade sectors. Around 60% of all birds are songbirds, and songbirds comprise a high proportion of all birds in trade, yet they comprise just 1.4% of the species listed in CITES Appendices' (Source: https://lnkd.in/gH69pb-V.) At CITES CoP19 there was a decision to protect two commonly traded songbirds: the white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus) on CITES Appendix II, and the straw-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus zeylanicus) on CITES Appendix I. Many more species need to be covered under CITES in the future. https://lnkd.in/gdDtmTkG ADM Capital Foundation Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime Alice Pasqualato Patricia Zurita #songbirds #wildlife #endwildlifecrime #wildlifetrafficking

#aml #antimoneylaundering #moneylaundering #financialcrime #fincrime #wildlifetrafficking Today is World Wildlife Day. Have you heard of ‘egg laundering’? Whether you have or haven’t, you’ll want to read this one. This is an article I wrote that was published almost four years ago, on wildlife trafficking. It still remains very relevant today.

#aml #antimoneylaundering #moneylaundering #financialcrime #fincrime #wildlifetrafficking Today is World Wildlife Day. Have you heard of ‘egg laundering’? Whether you have or haven’t, you’ll want to read this one. This is an article I wrote that was published almost four years ago, on wildlife trafficking. It still remains very relevant today. https://lnkd.in/eyK6Adu9

Last week, UNODC released their 3rd World Wildlife Crime Report and the collective slumping of shoulders around the world was audible. Each synopsis of the publication carried the same message and none of it was encouraging. As someone on the margins of the wildlife crime sector trying to find my way in, it looked pretty demotivating for all involved. So, I read it. I can’t pretend that I understand it all, but I did want to focus on the positives, because jeez, there are so many people working so damn hard to make a difference let’s try and build them up a little! 🐘 Point 1. It is possible to reduce the illegal trade of wildlife products! The concerted efforts on all aspects of the illegal trade in rhino horn and elephant ivory have seen a reduction in poaching, seizure levels and market prices over the past decade. 🛫 Point 2. Someone, somewhere is already working on an intervention to reduce criminal activity and wildlife trafficking. With greater coherence between the organisations involved in creating a set of measures that target the entire supply chain and act to positively reinforce each other, it will make a difference! 👮♀ Point 3. The information needed to adapt and evolve to is out there. Techniques from other crime sectors to target enforcement action, predict criminal behaviour, develop focussed deterrence approaches and utilise restorative justice can be readily adopted to reduce wildlife crime with the guidance to do so being easily available. Clearly, there’s a lot of work still to be done but the eternal optimist in me remains positive that things can change and hopeful that this means there’s a job out there for me to be involved! Get in touch if you have an opening or are simply in need of a motivational pick me up! #UNODC #worldwildlifecrimereport #illegalwildlifetrade #wildlifecrime #motivatingwords #careerswitcher 📸 Because cake is always the answer. #teamworkmakesthedreamwork

𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 WWF-Bhutan in collaboration with the Jigme Singye Wangchuck School of Law conducted an awareness workshop that brought together 50 representatives from the judiciary, DoFPS and private lawyers who are the members of the Bhutanese Bar Council in the past one year. The workshop allowed the officials to discuss and design way forward to foster better understanding of wildlife crimes in the country. Read the full story below: #StoriesFromTheField #AnnualReport23 #wildlifecrime

Nigeria: Wildlife protection bill passes its first reading! The Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill passed first reading at the house of representatives on Tuesday. The new bill ... would update and greatly improve current laws. It would further disrupt and deter illegal wildlife trade within the country by enhancing law enforcement capabilities, increasing investigative powers to include financial enquiries and intelligence-led operations, as well as expands courts’ ability to expedite wildlife cases and recover assets. It also creates corporate liability, supports international cooperation and imposes stringent penalties for traffickers and poachers ... Africa Nature Investors Foundation (ANI), the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Wild Africa Fund (WAF) have been actively supporting the Nigerian Government’s efforts to fight illegal wildlife trafficking, with support from the UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Mary Rice, Executive Director of EIA UK, stated: “Criminal justice responses against wildlife trafficking can only succeed within the framework of robust legislation, enabling investigators, prosecutors and the judiciary to deliver justice. "EIA is proud to have supported the development of this bill so far, and urges Nigerian lawmakers to see through its enactment without delay.” Source: https://lnkd.in/dv9-gx9e #Nigeria #Africa #wildlife #illegalwildlifetrade #elephants #ivory #pangolins