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 …
The timber mafia, in connivance with criminal elements in Swat and Malakand area, is cutting trees at "free will" to foster deforestation in the country. This was stated by the global vice president and regional councillor of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Javed Jabbar while briefing the media …
They can arrest and prosecute offenders who are plundering natural wealth THE State government has authorised the district police officers and police personnel not below the rank of inspector of police to make complaints in writing to the court of competent jurisdiction for any offence related to illicit quarrying. Empowered …
The Madhupur forests have almost disappeared, thanks to encroachment, neglect in preservation, corruption by forest officials, nepotism in leasing forestland and discriminatory attitudes towards indigenous people for decades. Once a large, dense forest and home of tigers, peacocks and langurs, Madhupur has now been reshaped with banana and pineapple orchards …
TIRUNELVELI: While stern action would be taken against illegal sand miners, the district administration would ensure that the public were getting the sand for construction at the price fixed by the government, Collector M. Jayaraman has said. Speaking to reporters after assuming office here on Wednesday, Mr. Jayaraman said that …
The death toll from a fire at an abandoned South African gold mine rose to at least 61 on Tuesday, making it the country's worst such disaster in recent memory at an illicit mine. The fire has raged for days at the mine, owned by Harmony Gold Mining Co., in …
An underground fire in an abandoned shaft has apparently killed 36 people who were illegally mining, the Harmony Gold Mining Company said Monday. The company said the bodies were brought to the surface by other illegal miners over the weekend at the Eland shaft in central South Africa. In a …
The trade in Hawksbill Turtles Eretmochelys imbricata, medium-sized cheloniids with a pan-tropical distribution, has been recognized as a key threat to their conservation in the wild, and has greatly contributed to the species being listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. During the 1970s and 1980s, several market …
The object of this study was investigation of the trade in skins of Leopards and Snow Leopards. Over a period of four years-2004 to 2007-surveys were conducted at the bazaars of some of the country's major cities to investigate the sale of furs of spotted wild cats, in particular Leopards …
Organised crime syndicates are eyeing the nascent forest carbon credit industry as a potentially lucrative new opportunity for fraud, an Interpol environmental crime official said on Friday. Peter Younger, an environmental crimes specialist at the world's largest international police agency, was referring to a UN-backed scheme called reducing emissions from …
Reserve forests in coastal areas of Patuakhali, especially in Kalapara and Galachipa upazilas, are gradually disappearing as organised gangs are stealing away timber allegedly in connivance with a section of forest department staff and law enforcers. Besides, a large number of trees are dying due to unknown diseases allegedly caused …
The controversy surrounding irregularities in the import of four white tigers continues and it has now emerged that the federal government has issued a No-Objection Certificate for the import of the two tigers which is being used by the Lahore zoo well after the actual import took place. According to …
Law enforcing agencies with the cooperation of coast guards have recovered smuggled timbers worth TK 20 lakh and seized two trawlers in a week from Swarupkathi region under Pirojpur district. Swarapkathi police said despite frantic efforts they were unable to stop the smuggling of timbers as influential political groups have …
A truck transporting a load of timber in the guise of transporting Army provisions to Puthumathalan, Puthukuduyirippu and Paranthan, supported by convincing documents had been apprehended by Dambulla Forest Conservation Officers, yesterday. The load of teak timber is valued at around Rs. 500,000. The owner of the truck and another …
Wildlife traffickers are exploiting loopholes in the mechanism for the international trade of critically endangered wildlife species, thus making a windfall through the illegal cross-border movement of animals, Dawn has learnt. According to highly-placed sources, the trans-boundary movement of endangered wildlife species is monitored by the Convention on International Trade …
Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo have seized a rare baby gorilla from traffickers at an airport who hid it under clothes in the bottom of a bag, wildlife officials said on Tuesday. The female primate of about two years old was rescued on Sunday in the eastern Congolese town …
A Kenyan and a Tanzanian pleaded guilty on Monday to illegal possession of ivory after being caught with hundreds of kilos of elephant tusks in one of east Africa's biggest seizures for years. The two men were driving a car loaded with 512 kg (1,129 lbs) of tusks when they …
Forest elephants in Cameroon and the Congo Basin could be extinct within 10 years without measures to fight the illegal ivory trade and curb habitat loss, a WWF official said in an interview. During the last 40 years, environmentalists estimate the forest elephant population has fallen 75 percent, standing at …
Environment ministers from major rich and developing nations signed a deal on Friday to try to slow species loss, but failed to make progress in crucial climate change talks despite US pledges of commitment. Almost every country in the world in 2002 agreed to a "significant reduction" in the rate …
The WorldWide Funds for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) has expressed its grave concerns over illegal import of White tigers and conversion of the green areas in Karachi into industrial areas. According to an official here on Thursday, a meeting of WWF-P Board was held on April 18 at the Qarshi Industries, Hattar. …
