Vienna, Austria - The world’s wildlife is currently facing an unprecedented crisis with over a million species believed to be at risk of extinction. Anthropogenic factors, such as changes to the way we use land and overexploitation of organisms, have been identified as the main culprits.
[1] Moreover, wildlife crime, fuelled by corruption, is a big part of this problem and has a devastating impact on the welfare and conservation of wild animals, the natural ecosystems on which we all rely, and local and national economies and security.
The illicit trafficking of wildlife, including illegal fishing and logging, is estimated to be worth between 69-199 billion USD
annually making it the fourth largest crime in the world.2 In 2019, the
World Bank estimated that wildlife crime deprives governments of fiscal revenues to the tune of 7-12 billion USD each year. The World Bank estimates the value of ecosystems, including through climate change mitigation at 1-2 trillion USD, with crimes against wildlife severely impacting the functioning of those very ecosystems. [2]
Since 2014, Mark Jones has worked at Born Free Foundation, a UK-based international wildlife charity that works to prevent and combat wildlife crime by advocating for a global agreement on this crime and promoting the adequate compliance and enforcement of existing trade laws. As a veterinarian, Mark’s primary motivation has always been to improve animal welfare and reduce the negative impacts of human activities on animals. While working in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centres in Latin America and Asia, Mark came into direct contact with many animals that were victims of wildlife crime and trafficking, most of which were too traumatized or injured to be returned to the wild. In addition to the animal welfare harms associated with these criminal activities, he saw first-hand some of the devastating impacts they have on the stability of wildlife populations and the ecosystems of which they are an integral part.
As Head of Policy, he is responsible for Born Free’s efforts to secure the development of a formal global agreement on tackling illicit wildlife trafficking. In June 2020,
the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime was established, with the aim to criminalize the international trafficking of wildlife by committing signatory countries to an international agreement, ideally a protocol under the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime, of which UNODC is the guardian.
In May 2022, Mark represented Born Free at the 31
st session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) in Vienna, alongside colleagues from the Global Initiative. On this occasion, Mark delivered an intervention to the plenary session in support of a global agreement on illicit wildlife trafficking in the form of a protocol under UNTOC and moderated a high-profile and well-attended side-event to discuss the issue. The meeting unanimously adopted
Resolution 31/1 entitled,
“Strengthening the international legal framework for international cooperation to prevent and combat illicit trafficking in wildlife”, sponsored by Angola, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines and the United States, paving the way for formal discussions on the development of an agreement.
