Director General/Executive Director
New York, 6 June 2016
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A ground-breaking General Assembly resolution initiated by Germany and Gabon on "tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife" was adopted just a little less than a year ago.
As requested by the resolution the Secretary-General will soon issue a report on its implementation and the global status of illicit trafficking in wildlife, including poaching and illegal trade. That report will also contain proposals for possible future action.
It was an honour for UNODC to coordinate preparations of the Secretary General's report. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Member States and UN entities for their valuable inputs thereto. I hope that you will find the report to be of great assistance as you further consider this matter in the General Assembly.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I now have the honour of presenting here today the UNODC World Wildlife Crime Report.
This is our first report to globally examine wildlife and forest crime in all its forms and manifestations.
Requested in the General Assembly resolution, it is the result of the strong mandate we received from Member States, and represents many months of research, building on UNODC's established expertise in analysing multifarious aspects of transnational organized crime.
We partnered with other organizations, in particular the CITES Secretariat and other members of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime, namely Interpol, the World Bank and World Customs Organization.
The report makes it abundantly clear that wildlife crime is a serious transnational organized crime with global dimensions.
All countries play a role as either source, area of transit or destination market, and share a responsibility to act.
Nearly 7,000 different species have been accounted for in more than 164,000 seizures, affecting 120 countries.
Some of our planet's most majestic species, including tigers, African elephants and rhinos, are facing extinction at the hands of poachers.
And there are thousands and thousands of lesser-known animals, as well as marine and plant life, that are under serious pressure, and that cannot survive without our attention and help.
As the report shows, we need to address gaps in information, legislation and regulation, and law enforcement capacity if we want to stop the poachers and traffickers.
Our research enabled UNODC to identify a few policy implications that Member States could consider.
First , criminalizing the possession of wildlife that was illegally sourced anywhere in the world; outside the CITES system, most national laws currently do not criminalize the possession of wildlife that was illegally harvested or traded from abroad.
Second , supporting range countries to promote sustainable livelihoods for communities, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as build capacities to protect their natural heritage;
Third , strengthening the capacities of customs and border control officials to deal with seizures;
Fourth , increasing the use of wildlife forensic science, including DNA and isotopic analysis, to properly identify species and support targeted law enforcement responses;
Fifth , supporting the establishment of new protected areas to address habitat loss;
Sixth , tackling forgery, fraud and corruption, which are major facilitators of wildlife crime, by making use of the UN Convention on Corruption, as well as the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;
And finally, reducing global demand for illegal wildlife products.
UNODC is supporting such action through our Global Programme for Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime,
as well as the Container Control Programme and other means that have been successfully employed to mount a comprehensive response to all forms of transnational organized crime.
Through the Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit developed with our ICCWC partners, we are assisting law enforcement and criminal justice bodies, wildlife and forestry administrations and other relevant agencies to review and strengthen national efforts.
Moreover, as part of UNODC's research for the wildlife report, and thanks to the support of the UK, the EU and Norway, we have created a global database on wildlife seizures.
The "World WISE" database represents a valuable resource, including for assessing progress on the poaching and trafficking targets under the SDGs.
We hope the first World Wildlife Crime Report, along with the Secretary-General's report on implementation of the GA resolution, can further inform and enhance criminal justice and preventive responses to illicit trafficking in wildlife.
In this regard, I very much welcome the proposal of Germany, Gabon and the Group of Friends for a follow-up resolution on illicit trafficking in wildlife, which can help to maintain much-needed momentum on this issue.
Thank you.
