• E4J University Module Series: Wildlife Crime

• Module 4: Illegal exploitation of wild flora
  

• Introduction and learning outcomes

• Key issues

  • Wild flora as the target of illegal trafficking
  • Purposes for which wild flora is illegally targeted
  • How is it done and who is involved?
  • Consequences of harms to wild flora
  • Criminal justice responses
  • References

• Exercises

• Core reading

• Advanced reading

• Additional teaching tools

 

Published in January 2022

 

 

  This module is a resource for lecturers  

 

How is it done and who is involved?

 

In order to understand the phenomenon of illegal exploitation of wild flora, it is important to understand the variety of actors involved as well as the range of opportunities that exist to commit crime or engage in corruption that are embedded in each step of the supply chain.

Supply chain overview and actors involved

The following graphic shows the different stages of the supply chain of illegally exploited wild flora. It is important to note that figure 2 is a simplified version of the supply chain, as the specific steps will depend on the species being targeted, the location, the type of actors involved, etc. For example, when trafficking live specimens (i.e. cacti, orchids) there is no “processing” stage, as the live plants are transported directly from the harvesting point to the distributor or the consumer, whereas timber might undergo significant processing. At the same time, the supply chain is not as linear as depicted below and some steps might be repeated.

Figure 2 - Linear depiction of the supply chain of wild flora

The stages of the supply chain of wild flora contain:

• Preparatory activities: Actions geared towards ensuring access to the location and the land where the flora is located, as well as to the tools and contacts needed to proceed with the harvest, transport and sale of the targeted flora. This may also include securing land use rights, certificates and permits

• Harvest: Physical removal and extraction of the wild flora from its original habitat
• Transport: Movement of the harvested flora to the location where it will be processed (if required) or sold
• Processing: Modification of the wild flora in order to extract or manufacture the end product that will be sold to the consumers, if required
• Export/Import: Relevant for international trafficking, involving source, destination and sometimes transit countries

• Sale: The exchange of the commodities (products or live specimens) for money

 

Actors

The illegal exploitation of wild flora includes a large spectrum of activities, with many different categories and types of actors involved. The actors engaging in burl poaching might be completely different from those engaging in charcoal or agarwood trafficking. Even when looking solely at one specific type of crime, such as illegal logging and timber trafficking, a diverse group of players and different levels of sophistication of operations can be distinguished, ranging from small-scale subsistence communities to large-scale corporations, elites and corrupt officials (Cao, 2018).

Phelps et al. (2016) distinguish between three key roles of actors along illegal wildlife supply chains: harvesters, intermediaries and consumers. For more information on the key actors, the structure of organized criminal groups as well as the involvement of corporations in wildlife crime, see ”Perpetrators and their networks” - module 1 of the E4J University Module Series on Wildlife Crime.

Along with key actors, other individuals and groups have peripheral duties that aid in the commission of crimes against wild flora, such as legal advisors, money exchangers and launderers, lawyers, notaries, document forgers, and financial counsellors (Levi et al., 2005; Kleemans, 2014; Boekhout van Solinge et al., 2016). In organized enterprises, security personnel may be hired from among policemen, military, criminals or armed groups to protect illegal operations (Boekhout van Solinge et al., 2016).

 

Crime and corruption opportunities

Each of the steps in the supply chain affords opportunities for crime and/or corruption in the exploitation of wild flora. Table 2 includes a list of examples of illicit activities, listed by the stage during which they may most likely occur. This list is not exhaustive, and some of the behaviours included may apply to more than one step (i.e. bribery, or forgery of permits and certificates).

Steps	Crime and corruption opportunities
Preparatory activities	Acquire land use rights, logging permits, etc. by paying bribes and or creating a monopoly by providing those to a limited number of companies Bribing officials to re-classify non-production areas into forest production land Corrupt officials to influence regulations in favour of business interest Forging of other documents, for example to illegally hire workers Bribing relevant stakeholders to approve fraudulent forest management plans, confirm concessions, increase volumes or prolong the permitted logging period Collude with local leaders to surpass community rights Land grabbing
Harvest	Harvest from protected areas or outside of area of permit Harvest or destroy protected species, specimens or harvest/destroy in excess of permitted quota (e.g. plant poaching) Bribe officials during inspections to turn a blind eye to illegally hired workers or harvesting operations
Transport	Transport without permits or at prohibited times Forge or use forged permits and other relevant documentation Bribe law enforcement personnel at checkpoints to secure passage and avoid inspection Bribe to accept fraudulent documents concerning the harvested species
Processing	Fraudulent claim regarding the origin of specimen Bribing to authorize processing of wood Laundering of illegally harvested products
Import / Export	Smuggling/ illegal importing Use forged documents to claim legal origin and harvest of products Falsify CITES permits and shipping records to export / import Bribing to obtain insider information about preferred trader programs Tax evasion using forged documents (import/export duties)
Sale	Knowingly selling illegal raw or finished product Fraudulent certification schemes that claim sustainable and legal sourcing

 

Corruption and related activities are a cross-cutting issue connected to the illegal exploitation of wild flora. While there is no universal definition of corruption, it can be broadly defined as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain” (Transparency International, n.d.). The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) recognizes corruption as an evolving phenomenon. While not providing a direct definition for corruption, the UNCAC lists agreed acts of corruption. For more on UNCAC and corruption, see E4J Module Series on Anti-Corruption.

Corruption is an important issue in the illegal exploitation of wildlife in general, including wild flora. For an overview of the role that corruption plays in the trafficking of wildlife, and the regulations that aim to curb it, see Modules 1 and 2 of the Wildlife Crime Series.

 

 

 

Involvement of organized crime in the exploitation of wild flora

The level of planning and organization needed to commit many of the crimes against flora tends to be low when the origin and destination of the product are in geographically proximate; however, this can quickly change when operations expand. As they become more sophisticated, be it due to their size, the use of a number of middlemen or processing centres, the difficulty of concealing shipments or the need to cross international borders, among other reasons, offenders may form organized criminal groups to plan, execute, and/or launder the profits obtained. The level of organization of these groups, their operating practices, and the links to other crimes are heterogeneous and vary depending on a number of factors such as the type of product or the country in which they operate (Wyatt et al., 2020). Organized criminal groups tend to use already established routes and networks to smuggle not only a variety of species, but also other products such as weapons, drugs, and even people (Pires and Moreto, 2016; INTERPOL, 2020). For more details on the participation of organized criminal groups in wildlife trafficking, see Module 1 of the Wildlife Crime Series.

In the case of flora, the involvement of organized criminal groups in the trafficking of timber is well documented, although it depends on the type of illegal logging. Some activities under the categories of illegal forest conversion and other illegal forest activities may be considered organized crime, as they feature the involvement of corrupt officials, illegal entrepreneurs, armed groups and large corporations (Boekhout van Solinge, 2014; Boekhout van Solinge et al., 2016). Informal logging typically involves mainly small-scale producers rather than organized criminal groups (Pokorny et al., 2016).

Possible differences between the illegal timber and non-timber flora trade are that large players and networks seem to dominate the former (Dauvergne and Lister, 2011), as well as the fact that timber tends to be trafficked in huge volumes. Although the involvement of organized criminal groups in dealing in non-timber flora products is less well understood, there are some examples of the participation of these groups in the poaching and trafficking of other flora. In Madagascar, buying vanilla has been recorded as a method of laundering proceeds of timber trafficking (see Example: Violence and crime convergence of vanilla cultivation in Madagascar). While the participation of organized criminal groups in orchid trafficking has not officially been established, the volume of the trade and the fact that it moves millions of plants all over the word, through a variety of platforms, could indicate some level of organization (see also Phelps and Webb, 2015).

 

Next: Consequences of harms to wild flora

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