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 …
Hong Kong government’s three-step plan to ban ivory trade by 2021 received go-ahead from the Chief Executive in Council, and the legislature amendments will be tabled before the Legislative Council in the first half of 2017. Hong Kong to ban ivory trade by 2021 The government’s three-step plan aims to …
More than 80 per cent of countries consider environmental crime a national priority, with the majority saying new and more sophisticated criminal activities increasingly threaten peace and security. INTERPOL and UN Environment surveyed close to 70 countries for their new joint report, 'Environment, Peace and Security? A Convergence of Threats', …
A major investigation into global wildlife crime today names for the first time key traffickers and links their illegal trade to corrupt officials at the highest levels of one Asian country. The investigation, published by the Guardian, exposes the central role of international organised crime groups in mutilating and killing …
Responses to illegal wildlife trade need to be more nuanced and not only focused on high-profile species if we are to truly tackle the problem, say researchers. Across the globe, the illegal wildlife trade threatens thousands of species, including fish, fungi and plants, along with the more familiar 'charismatic' animals …
Large-scale seizures of ivory in Singapore over the last three years make the south-east Asian city-state one of the world’s premier ivory smuggling hubs for organised crime, say conservation watchdogs. Data from seizures, collected by the UN’s wildlife trade monitor Traffic and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and shared with …
CEOs whose businesses commit environmental crimes can now be tried in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The ICC is looking to clamp down on land grabbing, a practise that has seen multinationals take over large areas of foreign land to exploit its natural resources without benefiting the …
The notice, issued on August 30, stems from an investigation by the Brazilian Federal Police that uncovered a technique employed by illegal timber traders in the country. The method in question involves obtaining fraudulent forest management plans that declare a higher density of a high-value timber species within a timber …
The Indonesian environment ministry said they were sending a team to look into Korindo's operations in Papua. A Korindo spokesperson denied that the company had burned land intentionally, suggesting that the fires on its land were the government's fault, not the company's. Environmental campaigners are touring Korea this week to …
Banks have financed companies responsible for rainforest destruction in Southeast Asia to the tune of billions of dollars, a study showed Tuesday, and called on lenders to stop "fuelling forest crime". Southeast Asia is home to some of the world's most diverse rainforests, but they have come under threat in …
Banks have financed companies responsible for rainforest destruction in Southeast Asia to the tune of billions of dollars, a study showed Tuesday, and called on lenders to stop "fuelling forest crime". Southeast Asia is home to some of the world's most diverse rainforests, but they have come under threat in …
Some of the world’s biggest buyers have stopped trading with Korindo after the emergence of footage claiming to show illegal burning in Papua province A Korean palm oil company has been dropped by buyers after footage emerged that allegedly shows the illegal burning of vast tracts of tropical forest on …
Environment related crimes in the country came down by over 11% last year compared to 2014 but there was no decline in states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Assam where the number of such violations increased over the past year. According to data released by the National Crime Records …
Singapore’s National Environment Agency said on Friday it expected air quality to remain poor into the weekend as Indonesian disaster management officials cautioned that wildfires in Sumatra and Kalimantan could persist through September. On Thursday Indonesia’s newly appointed police chief Tito Karnavian said police had prepared cases against 454 individuals …
The first ever Zoohackathon will convene this October 7-9 across six zoos in the US, Europe, Asia and Pacific. Organized by the US Department of State, Association of Zoos and Aquariums and World Wildlife Fund, the hackathon will address the increasingly rampant global challenge of wildlife trafficking. “The idea is …
For 20,000 years the remains of millions of woolly mammoths remained locked in permafrost in Siberia and elsewhere—until recently. Warming temperatures have melted this icy layer, bringing their valuable ivory teeth within grasp and leading to a burgeoning trade. For several years conservationists have said this trade is hurting mammoths’ …
Absence of transparency and a lack concern for the environment are major issues. for EHRDs. Proposed new laws to restrict protest and civil society activity are a worrying trend. increase vulnerability. Attacks on women environmental defenders doubled between 2012 and 2014. Latin America is, by far, the most dangerous region …
Nigeria: Illegal Diversion of Explosives - FG Exonerates, Recalls Mines Officers Five suspected illegal miners, including two women, have been arrested in Rutsiro District following an operation conducted in Rusebeya Sector on Tuesday. Police also recovered 1438kgs of cassiterite and 702kgs of Coltan from the suspects. The District Police Commander …
In an operation led by the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) between July 28 and August 2, wildlife enforcement teams arrested two businessmen in the Republic of the Congo believed to be involved in trafficking at least 1.5 metric tons of elephant tusks. The shipping companies are allegedly involved in …
Sam Lawson is the founder of Earthsight, a London-based nonprofit whose mission is to promote the use of in-depth investigations to expose environmental and social crime, injustice and the links to global consumption. The views expressed here are his own. Why helping civil society investigate illegal timber is about much …
MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - A Kenyan court on Friday sentenced a man to 20 years in jail and fined him 20 million shillings ($200,000) for ivory smuggling. Police accused Feisal Mohamed Ali, from the coastal city of Mombasa, of being behind an international ivory poaching syndicate linked to a 3-tonne …
