In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
Overexploitation is one of the main pressures driving wildlife closer to extinction, yet broad-scale data to evaluate species’ declines are limited. Using African pangolins (Family: Pholidota) as a case study, we demonstrate that collating local-scale data can provide crucial information on regional trends in exploitation of threatened species to inform …
Engagement with the land registration system that underpins the Forest Code was initially high, but the researchers found that it had little bearing on the amount of illegal deforestation. Only 6 percent of farmers surveyed said they were actively restoring deforested parts of their land, while 76 percent said that …
Accra - Rescuers on Thursday called off a search for miners who were trapped underground after an illegal goldmine collapsed in western Ghana, declaring 17 dead, a local lawmaker told AFP. Nsuta representative Williams Adomako said teams that were trying to rescue the miners after the pit caved in on …
The Chinese government has said it will rein in the smuggling and illegal sale of ivory through tougher law enforcement, among other measures — but those enforcement efforts do not appear to have reached the town of Shuidong in Guangdong Province. The Chinese town at the epicenter of the global …
Authorities in Hong Kong this week made their largest haul of contraband ivory in more than 30 years, amid surging illegal wildlife seizures fuelled by lax regulations and buoyant demand from mainland China. The former British colony situated at the mouth of China's Pearl River Delta is one of the …
ACCRA (Reuters) - At least 14 people were missing and feared dead after an illegal gold mine in western Ghana in which they were working collapsed, police said on Tuesday. Five people escaped unhurt from the pit in the old mining town of Prestea, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) west …
An environmental watchdog group says its investigation of ivory smuggling in Mozambique uncovered evidence of a Chinese-led criminal network, operating through the southern city of Shuidong that they claim is a route for some 80 percent of all elephant-tusk ivory originating in Africa. The report, released Tuesday by the UK-based …
Hluhluwe - Horn poachers have killed another six rhino in a single night shoot-up in KwaZulu-Natal's flagship Hluhluwe-Imfolozi reserve. It is understood that 11 gunshots were heard around 00:00 on Sunday. At first light on Monday, Ezemvelo KZN wildlife rangers and anti-poaching units went to where the gunshots had been …
Fourteen out of 19 illegal small scale miners (galamseyers) have been trapped in the belly of the earth since Sunday, July 2. The accident occurred at Prestea-Nsuta in the Western Region as the illegal miners undertook their operation. Heavy rains weakened the earth, causing the pit to cave in on …
Owls were rarely recorded in the country's bird markets in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, but this trend appears to have changed in the late 2000s. Surveys of 20 bird markets in Java and Bali conducted between 2012 and 2016 revealed that owls are now widely traded, with at …
Holding a plastic bottle of toxic mercury with his bare hands on an illegal gold mining barge in the Amazon basin, the 22-year-old miner says he is well aware of the dangers of the job. In shorts and sandals, he lights a blow torch, training a blue flame on a …
LONDON – A broad gathering of key players in the environmental sector came together last week in London for an international conference on illegal logging. The annual Chatham House conference on illegal logging was attended by over 250 global representatives from government, non-profit, the private sector, and the media. According …
HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Two years ago, Innocent Mavhuto traded one illegal activity for another. "I used to drive commuter omnibuses without a driver's license but it was difficult because I always got arrested," he says. Mavhuto, 37, now poaches sand, eroding the land and leaving a trail of gullies and …
The state government has failed to recover losses caused to the exchequer due to illegal mining in the state. Department of Mines and Geology (DMG) had issued notices to 105 miners and individuals for recovery of Rs 134 crore in March 2017, by giving one month's time. However, even after …
Experts, greens criticise dilution of ecological norms for quarries The revised mining rules issued by the Industries Department last week have triggered widespread concern among the public and drawn criticism of experts and environmental activists who feel that the government has gone out of its way to dilute environmental regulations …
Illegal sand mining is threatening the environment and communities in Namibia. Residents say regulations against the practice are being ignored and are calling on the government to impose harsher laws. The government says it has shut down some illegal miners, but it does not have enough resources to monitor the …
This report presents the first comprehensive overview of international trade in CITES-listed wildlife in the Amazon countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The analysis provides a baseline of information on trade levels and trends in these countries for the ten-year period 2005-2014, in order to inform …
PUNE: Maharashtra will soon join other states equipped with a special special satellite surveillance system to map their 3,500 odd stone quarries and help government officials curb illegal mining activities. The project of the Indian Bureau of Mines will map the data of minor minerals, particularly sand and other material …
Hong Kong - Hong Kong launched a landmark bill to ban its ivory trade on Wednesday, describing it as an effort to "eradicate" the illegal poaching of elephants. The southern Chinese city is a major hub for ivory sales and announced in 2016 that it would ban the import and …
The Centre has constituted a committee to understand the existing system of sand mining in various states and prepare a guideline which addresses all concerns of this sector. A few years ago, the general refrain of the governments of various states, where illegal sand mining was increasing, was that it …
