Wildlife trafficking remains one of the most urgent threats to biodiversity today. Across regions, species, and ecosystems, it continues to drive extinction, degrade governance, foster corruption, and fuel transnational criminal networks that often traffic not just wildlife, but also drugs, arms, and people. In the face of this growing threat, the global conservation community is working to expand and evolve its strategies. And while investment in approaches such as demand reduction, community engagement, and behaviour change is crucial, proactive and targeted enforcement – especially when it focuses on dismantling criminal networks, following illicit financial flows, preventing and combatting corruption, and empowering local law enforcement – remains a vital part of the overall response and continues to show meaningful impact.
The state of plays: Signs of progress in disrupting the illegal trade
In 2019, wildlife trafficking peaked globally. Over 100 tonnes of pangolin scales and around 50 tonnes of ivory were seized globally – a level of trade that, had it continued, would have pushed elephants and pangolins populations across Africa to the brink of extinction. But since then, thanks in large part to sustained and coordinated enforcement pressure, trafficking volumes have dropped dramatically.
For example, Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) analysis has found that by 2024, reported ivory seizures were down 77%, pangolin trafficking had fallen 84%, and rhino horn seizures had dropped 90% compared to 2019. The current intelligence picture suggests a real decline. And while questions remain whether traffickers are using more sophisticated concealment techniques, shifting their modus operandi, or establishing new corrupt settings at destination ports to evade detection, early signs indicate that proactive law enforcement targeting key trafficking networks in African hotspots through arrests and prosecutions are having a significant disruptive impact on the illegal trade. These numbers represent a reduction in the pressure on wildlife populations, buying time for them to stabilise and for other strategies like demand reduction to take root.
Refining enforcement for greater impact: Lessons learned
Law enforcement plays a critical role in safeguarding biodiversity, deterring criminal activity, upholding the rule of law, and delivering justice. Without effective enforcement, laws become little more than policies or aspirational ideas, unable to deliver real-world protection for vulnerable species and ecosystems.
Not all law enforcement interventions have achieved the desired outcomes in addressing wildlife trafficking. Significant investment has gone into law enforcement approaches that have yielded limited results, such as duplicative training programs with little operational impact.
Understanding what works, what doesn’t, and continuously recalibrating approaches based on evidence and learning is essential.
Reforms in many countries have strengthened wildlife trafficking laws and increased penalties. Yet, enforcement must be both targeted and proportionate. Disproportionately punitive measures directed at low-level offenders – poachers, couriers, and small-scale traders – can cause severe personal and societal consequences, eroding public trust in the justice system and undermining the legitimacy of conservation laws, thus limiting their deterrent effect.
Beyond seizures and arrests: A system shift
For enforcement to be truly effective, it must be proactive, intelligence-led, and focused on dismantling the upper layers of criminal networks – high-level traffickers, brokers, financiers, and corrupt facilitators driving wildlife trafficking. Given the finite resources available, strategic prioritisation is imperative. Intelligence analysis – mapping networks, understanding criminal methodologies, and identifying key vulnerabilities – enables law enforcement agencies to strategically target efforts where they can deliver the greatest impact. Analysis by the WJC and complementary studies demonstrate that a relatively small number of organised criminal networks control a large share of the global illegal wildlife trade. By focusing investigative and prosecutorial efforts on dismantling these networks, enforcement can generate systemic disruption across the trade.
Yet, how do we measure its impact? While seizures, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions remain important metrics, they alone do not capture the true depth of impact. Not all arrests carry equal strategic value. The dismantling of a major trafficker can cause important shifts in criminal dynamics, far exceeding the impact of arresting numerous low-level offenders. For instance, the WJC prioritises qualitative assessments – monitoring shifts in criminal methodologies, crime displacement patterns, the withdrawal of actors from illicit trade, and market price fluctuations – to build a more comprehensive understanding of enforcement impact and to adapt strategies accordingly.
Effective investigations are complex and resource-intensive, demanding specialised skillsets, sustained commitment, and strong political will. Supporting local and national authorities, building long-term enforcement capacity through intelligence-sharing, investigative support, mentorship, and training, and empowering local criminal justice actors to take the lead, are critical steps in achieving systemic change that endures far beyond a single case.
Evidence from the field: The Nigeria example
One of the clearest examples of effective enforcement comes from Nigeria, a significant exit point for pangolin scale and ivory trafficking from Africa to Asia. Starting in 2021, thanks to concerted efforts involving national authorities and support from multiple stakeholders, including international organisations and NGOs such as the WJC, Nigeria significantly increased its focus on intelligence-driven wildlife crime investigations and prosecutions.
The partnership between the WJC and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has yielded tangible results: as of April 2025, over 25 tonnes of pangolin scales and more than one tonne of ivory seized; 42 arrests; 12 convictions so far; and 13 major criminal networks disrupted or dismantled. Globally, there hasn’t been a major pangolin scale seizure at a seaport for over three years.
And the momentum continues. In April 2025, a major seizure in Lagos – nearly 4 tonnes of pangolin scales, estimated to represent over 1,900 killed pangolins – was paired with the arrest of five suspects, including a key suspected supplier of pangolin scales and ivory to Asian and Guinean networks. This seizure was made possible by months of intelligence gathering, financial investigation, and close coordination between WJC and Nigerian partners.
The impact is clear: wildlife trafficking in Nigeria is increasingly viewed as a high-risk criminal activity, akin to more traditionally high-risk crime types such as the illicit drug trade.
“Boss is afraid. We are afraid. You know this business is just like a drug business. In drug you risk yourself and also the product.”
While Nigeria remains a key hub for wildlife trafficking, the escalating pressure on criminal networks has led traffickers to view their operations as increasingly dangerous and closely monitored in Nigeria. As a result of growing enforcement efforts, the ability of Lagos-based organised crime networks to ship significant quantities of ivory and pangolin scales from Apapa Port to Asia has been severely disrupted. The networks are in turmoil, with a culture of fear and distrust permeating all points of the supply chain. This shift underscores how a consistent and targeted criminal justice approach can shift the calculus for criminal networks.
These outcomes are a testament to what’s possible when law enforcement authorities are equipped with the right tools, training, and trusted partners. Real change takes time, trust, and sustained commitment – but the impact is lasting.
Part of a holistic response
Enforcement is a vital part of a holistic, interconnected strategy to tackle wildlife trafficking. It doesn’t compete with other efforts such as demand reduction, community-led conservation, anti-corruption, or policy reform – it complements and enables them. Changing consumer behaviour takes time. Enforcement buys that time by increasing the risks for traffickers and disrupting criminal operations in the shorter term. Enforcement efforts also generate intelligence critical for informing complementary strategies. For example, WJC findings revealed that rhino horn demand is more driven by luxury investment in China than by traditional medicine use in Vietnam – a critical insight to focus resources and shape effective demand reduction strategies.
A systems-based approach to tackling wildlife trafficking is crucial: one that breaks down silos between sectors, acknowledges crime convergence and corruption, considers the broader links to climate and environmental security, and spans entire supply chains – including timber, fisheries, and wild plants.
What’s next
Proactive and targeted law enforcement creates space for longer-term solutions, relieves pressure on fragile ecosystems, and builds stronger institutions where the will to act exists. Strategic enforcement gives wildlife a fighting chance to recover and thrive. In countries like Nigeria, Mozambique, and Thailand, we are witnessing the impact of strategic, coordinated enforcement to drive real change.
There’s no single solution to wildlife trafficking. But enforcement is a vital part of the answer. It’s working – and it must remain part of the path forward. To achieve lasting change, we must continue investing in intelligence, supporting local leadership, and fostering collaboration between governments, NGOs, and communities.
At the Wildlife Justice Commission, we are proud to be part of this global effort to stop transnational organised crime networks from driving species to extinction. We believe that with the right tools, partnerships, and persistence, we can make wildlife trafficking too risky to pursue – and help safeguard a future where wildlife is no longer contraband, but a living legacy.
