Wildlife and forest crime

The Challenge:

Once an emerging threat, wildlife and forest crime today has transformed into one of the largest transnational organized criminal activities in the East Asia and Pacific region, generating an estimated USD 19.5 billion annually - almost one quarter of the nearly USD 90 billion earned per year in the region by transnational organized crime. Of this, the illegal harvesting and trafficking of timber alone is worth approximately USD 17 billion per year, making it the second highest value illicit commodity in the region.

Unlike other illicit commodities, the illegal trade of wildlife and timber products is often embedded in the legitimate trade, making it difficult to detect. It frequently converges with other serious crimes, and is fuelled by corruption, fraud, lax regulation and poor law enforcement.

Too often, law enforcement efforts within the region target low-level offenders, leaving high-level criminal entrepreneurs and their networks unharmed and profitable. Little use is made of financial intelligence or anti-money laundering systems to map and disable trafficking networks. Penalties for environmental crimes are often weak, and legal frameworks require reform in many jurisdictions in the region. Underpinning it all, high levels of corruption greatly facilitate the illegal trade of wildlife and timber, disabling investigations and prosecutions, and posing a serious threat to national governance.

What we do:

UNODC works with legal systems and law enforcement agencies of Member States to:

Strengthen policy, legislative and regulatory frameworks;
Enhance knowledge and skills to investigate and prosecute related criminal activities;
Increase awareness regarding the nature and scale of wildlife and forest crimes; and
Enhance cooperation on a bilateral and regional level.

United Nations

UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific

Wildlife and forest crime

overview

global programme

publications

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