• Endangered species

Endangered species (CITES)

The internet is now playing a central role in the activities of illegal wildlife traders. IFAW UK monitored the nature and scale of wildlife trade on the internet over several months, and found a huge array of species for sale in which all commercial trade is legally prohibited or strictly regulated.

The increasing use of the internet to organise illegal wildlife trade poses new challenges to legislators and enforcement agencies. Agencies in the UK have recognised the problem, but have devoted insufficient resources to tackle the scale of the trade. This is complicated by a lack of truly reliable data, particularly for internet trade. Specific laws to combat abuses are not yet well developed at the international level, although legislation governing internet trade in wildlife could be based on the models applied in the areas of child pornography, online pharmacies and defamation.

The authors indicate that it is difficult for internet buyers and sellers to check what can be legally sold or to report suspect items. Auction sites on which wildlife is traded have taken limited action to inform users or to report illegal wildlife items, and this situation needs to be remedied urgently through statutory regulation.

Recommendations to relevant government and enforcement agencies worldwide include:

• ensure sufficient enforcement capacity to address this problem at a national level and to further international cooperation on wildlife crime, in particular organised crime
• establish close cooperation with Interpol’s Wildlife Crime Working Group and Ecomessage, Interpol’s reporting system for wildlife crime
• support a Resolution to the 14th Conference of the Parties to CITES proposing an international action plan to tackle this issue
• develop and implement an EU as well as USA action plan to reduce illegal wildlife trade on the Internet in these countries

Recommendations to owners of sites on which wildlife may be traded include:

• provide easy access for site users to information on the legal requirements for Internet wildlife trading and actively promote awareness of this issue among their users
• establish close cooperation with appropriate enforcement agencies in order to facilitate reporting of suspicious items for investigation
• devote sufficient resources to ensure regular and detailed monitoring of site content for illegal wildlife items and to enable rapid and appropriate action to be taken in relation to any suspicious items

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