The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the support of the Government of Germany, is supporting the Government of Nigeria to tackle the rising incidences of wildlife crime in Nigeria through the Project “Strengthening Nigeria’s Response to the Trafficking of Wildlife and Forest Products Phase II”. The project primarily partners with the Federal Ministry of Environment, the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), and various law enforcement agencies and civil society organizations.
The phase II project follows on from the first phase of the Project which was between the period of June 2020 to December 2023. A key deliverable under the first phase was the development of Nigeria’s first ever National Strategy to Combat Wildlife and Forest Crime in Nigeria.
The experience in implementing Phase I of the project indicated a need to increase regional and inter-regional cooperation considering the strong transnational dimension of wildlife trafficking in Nigeria. It also highlighted the need to improve inter-agency cooperation to ensure enhanced implementation of the National Strategy to Combat Wildlife and Forest Crime in Nigeria 2022-2026 and effective utilisation of resources. Moreover, it underlined the need to further strengthen the capacity of key frontline wildlife law enforcement agencies like the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) which is recognised as a CITES enforcement authority but has limited law enforcement capacity and training. There is also a need to strengthen the prosecutorial and adjudicatory capacity of the wildlife crime justice system in Nigeria and reinforce the implementation of the corruption risk mitigation strategies developed for four frontline wildlife agencies. All these components are highlighted in the National Strategy.
The Phase II project seeks to support the implementation of this strategy and adopting a transnational organised crime approach to the prevention and disruption of wildlife crime in Nigeria, strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to conduct regional and inter-regional investigations and prosecutions of wildlife traffickers.
This objective will be achieved through the following outcomes:
