Wildlife crime urgently needs justice. The illegal exploitation of wild flora and fauna is destroying our planet’s biodiversity. The global trafficking of wildlife continues relentlessly, driving many species towards extinction and threatening global security and public health. Massive efforts to raise awareness and reduce demand aren’t slowing one of the world’s most lucrative forms of transnational organised crime.

Nature is in unprecedented decline

We are at risk of losing more than one million species in the coming years, like rhinos, pangolins, tigers, and turtles – while criminals make billions from illegal sales.

• Every five minutes a pangolin is poached in the wild
• Every 15 minutes an elephant is killed for their ivory
• Every 24 hours two rhinos are poached.
• Every week at least 200 freshwater turtles and tortoises are trafficked
• There are less than 4,000 tigers left in the wild

Transnational Organised Crime

Wildlife crime is seen as a low-risk, high-reward dirty industry, currently estimated to be the fourth most profitable global crime, after the trafficking of drugs, humans, and firearms. Organised crime networks are attracted by the large financial rewards and low risk of detection or prosecution, emboldening them to prey on vulnerable species for profit.

Given their complex and transnational nature, wildlife crimes are often overlooked: rather than going for the high-level international criminals, focus tends to be placed on targeting more accessible criminals in the supply chain, such as poachers and low-level smugglers. When illegal shipments of wildlife are intercepted, they are rarely subjected to follow-up investigations.