By James Allan

Litter is ugly and an overwhelming majority of Britons want action. Since the 1960s littering has increased by 500%. Years of inaction, compounded by a lack of personal responsibility and a sharp increase in littering during the COVID-19 pandemic has made the problem worse.

Policy Exchange first recommended a national and coordinated approach to litter in Litterbugs published in 2009, but it was not until 2017 that the Government published the first ever national strategy that dealt with litter and littering behaviour. Furthermore, in 2022 the Office for Environmental Protection has said that the Government has yet to move beyond mere commitments to policy delivery.

This report calls for the Government to implement a new and revitalised Litter Strategy, including a significantly more aggressive approach to fines, including higher penalties, with a Local Authority League Table to name and shame those councils that are not using their powers; a new National Litter Awareness Course (modelled on the National Speed Awareness Course), backed by educational campaigns, to transform attitudes to personal responsibility; increased investment in bin infrastructure, with consideration of bins embedded in local design codes; and a large scale pilot of a digitised Deposit Return Scheme to enhance recycling.

London: Policy Exchange, 2023. 45p.

By Sarah Gluszek, Julie Viollaz, Robert Mwinyihali, Michelle Wieland, Meredith L. Gore

At unsustainable rates and in illegal contexts, the wild meat trade is a driver of species extinction; it can also threaten ecosystem services, local food secu-rity and contribute to the risk of zoonotic disease spread. The restaurant and catering sectors are understudied groups in conservation, both with regards to the legal and illegal wild meat trade and particularly in urban areas. Restaura-teurs are key actors between wild meat consumers and suppliers and thus play a central role in the supply chain. This study applied a crime science hotproduct approach to characterize: (a) restaurateur perceptions of urban wild meat consumption; (b) wildlife species most at risk in the urban wild meat trade; and (c) the differences between restaurants in Kinshasa (DemocraticRepublic of the Congo) and Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo). Through Focus groups in both cities, participants affirmed that in urban centers wild meat is considered a luxury item and sign of wealth. Monkeys were seen as a hot product in both cities, but we found a greater variety of hot wild meat products in Brazzaville. When looking at the differences between the restau-rant tier levels, middle-tiered restaurants identified pangolin and antelopes asbeing hot products, rather than monkeys as with upper and lower-tiered res-taurants. By applying a hot product analysis, we identified the wild meat groups most likely to be targeted by the urban wild meat trade. Findings Herein offer novel opportunities to better tailor and prioritize conservation interventions against illegal trade using design against crime or other crime prevention strategies.KEYWORDSbushmeat, Congo Forest Basin, elephant, hot product analysis, illegal wildlife trade, monkeys,pangolins, wildlife trafficking†Tn behalf of Society for Conservation Biology

Conservation Science and Practice Volume 3, Issue 5, 2021.

By Allan Thornton, et al.

A report into how the first CITES-approved ivory sale led to an increase in elephant poaching.

In 1997, CITES Parties voted to down-list the elephant populations of Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, followed swiftly by a supposedly one-time only sale in 1999 of stockpiled ivory to Japan.

This report provides documentation of the resulting soaring rates across the African continent, despite the predictions of ‘experts’ that such a sale would satiate the market.

London: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), 2020. 36p.

By Richard Chelin

Pangolin trafficking is not simply an environmental management problem – it is a transnational organised crime.

Pangolins – also known as scaly anteaters – are among the most trafficked wildlife species in Africa and are considered the most trafficked mammal globally. The huge demand for their scales and meat, largely from Southeast Asia, has created a lucrative illicit market run by transnational criminal syndicates.

In Africa, most countries use generic anti-wildlife crime policies and strategies to address the illicit trade in pangolins. This approach fails to address specific issues related to the protection of pangolins, such as the loopholes in policies in dealing with the illegal trade in the species.

This policy brief identifies the gaps in existing policies and strategies, and offers evidence-based policy recommendations for the protection of pangolins and to stem illicit trade in Africa.

Enact Africa, 2019. 16p.

By Felber J. Arroyave, Alexander M. Petersen, Jeffrey Jenkins & Rafael Hurtado

Illicit wildlife trafficking poses a threat to the conservation of species and ecosystems, and represents a fundamental source of biodiversity loss, alongside climate change and large-scale land degradation. Despite the seriousness of this issue, little is known about various socio-cultural demand sources underlying trafficking networks, for example the forthright consumption of endangered species in different cultural contexts. Our study illustrates how wildlife trafficking represents a wicked problem at the intersection of criminal enforcement, cultural heritage and environmental systems management. As with similar network-based crimes, institutions are frequently ineffective at curbing wildlife trafficking, partly due to the lack of information detailing activities within illicit trading networks. To address this shortcoming, we leverage official government records documenting the illegal trade of reptiles in Colombia. As such, our study contributes to the understanding of how and why wildlife trafficking persists across robust trafficking networks, which are conduits for a broader range of black-market goods. Leveraging geo-spatial data, we construct a multiplex representation of wildlife trafficking networks, which facilitates identifying network properties that are signatures of strategic trafficker behavior. In particular, our results indicate that traffickers’ actions are constrained by spatial and market customs, a result which is apparent only within an integrated multiplex representation. Characteristic levels of sub-network coupling further indicate that traffickers strategically leverage knowledge of the entire system. We argue that this multiplex representation is essential for prioritizing crime enforcement strategies aimed at disrupting robust trade networks, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and resources allocation of institutions charged with curbing illicit trafficking. We develop a generalizable model of multiplex criminal trade networks suitable for communicating with policy makers and practitioners, thereby facilitating rapid translation into public policy and environmental conservation efforts.

Applied Network Science volume 5, Article number: 20 (2020)

By Tanya Wyatt, Daan van Uhm & Angus Nurse

Historically, the poaching of wildlife was portrayed as a small-scale local activity in which only small numbers of wildlife would be smuggled illegally by collectors or opportunists. Nowadays, this image has changed: criminal networks are believed to be highly involved in wildlife trafficking, which has become a significant area of illicit activity. Even though wildlife trafficking has become accepted as a major area of crime and an important topic and criminologists have examined a variety of illegal wildlife markets, research that specifically focuses on the involvement of different criminal networks and their specific nature is lacking. The concept of a ‘criminal network’ or ‘serious organized crime’ is amorphous – getting used interchangeably and describes all crime that is structured rather than solely reflecting crime that fits within normative definitions of ‘organized’ crime. In reality, criminal networks are diverse. As such, we propose categories of criminal networks that are evidenced in the literature and within our own fieldwork: (1) organized crime groups (2) corporate crime groups and (3) disorganized criminal networks. Whereas there are instances when these groups act alone, this article will (also) discuss the overlap and interaction that occurs between our proposed categories and discuss the complicated nature of the involved criminal networks as well as predictions as to the future of these networks.

Trends in Organized Crime (2020) 23:350–366

By Meredith L. Gore , Robert Mwinyihali , Luc Mayet Gavinet Duclair, Makaya Baku-Bumb , etc.

Urban wildmeat consumption can contribute to significant declines in wildlife populations, ecosystem function, and food insecurity security. Describing types of individuals involved in illegal urban wildmeat trafficking can help distinguish ordinary citizens from members of criminal organizations and urban vs. rural dimensions of the activity. This research aimed to: (1) create and apply a typology for urban wildmeat traffickers and sellers; and (2) explore linkages between types of urban wildmeat traffickers and sellers. We used focus groups with experts in the Republic of the Congo, February 2019 (N = 2, n = 7–10) to achieve objectives and focused on pangolins, great apes, and dwarf crocodiles. Participants generated risk rankings for each species, typology and city; data was encoded and indexed. Results illustrate heterogeneity in actors involved in the illegal supply chain. Business sideliner and trading charity trafficker types were associated with the highest total risk to wildlife trafficking. A similar pattern of divergence was detected for seller typologies; hidden and casual sellers were associated with the greatest total risk in Pointe Noire and Brazzaville, respectively. Differentiating but not stove piping stakeholders involved in urban wildmeat trafficking will help clarify stages of illegal supply chains as well and promote thinking about new sectors to involve in interventions and solutions, particularly in urban ecosystems thought to be outside the scope to wildlife crime.

Global Ecology and Conservation. Volume 27, June 2021, e01557

By Michelle Anagnostou

The intensified illegal trade of wildlife has contributed to the unsustainable decline of wildlife populations, the destabilization of ecosystems, and threatens economic development and human security. Though often lacking empirical evidence, convergence theory has emerged recently as a topic of interest among researchers, practitioners, and the media to explain the growing overlap of criminal activities in an increasingly globalized world. In this paper, I explain the interdisciplinary theoretical foundations for the interconnectivity of criminal networks, including connections between illegal wildlife trade networks and non-state armed groups. I also outline and discuss various perspectives on the convergence of the illegal wildlife trade with other organized crime activities. I conclude by highlighting the urgent need for a better understanding of the role of the organized criminal groups involved in the illegal wildlife trade, and of how these groups converge with other types of criminal activities. The policy implications of filling in this knowledge gap are twofold: firstly, understanding how criminal networks converge can facilitate the implementation of more effective law enforcement and investigations that target high-profile offenders, as opposed to focusing on low-level poachers; and secondly, this understanding can foster more cooperation across agencies and jurisdictions to address multiple crime types and crime in convergence settings

Environmental Challenges. Volume 5, December 2021, 100222

By Earth League International and John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Environmental crime convergence, the focal point of this report, poses an imminent threat to our planet’s delicate ecosystems. To address this urgent issue, ELI, and John Jay College present ELI’s revolutionary 4-Type Environmental Crime Convergence paradigm to comprehensively understand and combat the intricate web of transnational organized crime operations that perpetuate environmental degradation.

The foundation of this report is built upon the fieldwork and intelligence analysis of ELI’s investigators and crime analysts, who have gathered first-hand evidence of Environmental Crime Convergence directly from some of the world’s most notorious environmental criminals and their networks. Drawing on years of investigative fieldwork in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, over two dozen case studies have emerged from ELI’s work as primary sources of data.

This report highlights five (5) case studies of the transnational criminal networks in Latin America identified by ELI that illustrate the convergence of environmental and wildlife crime with other serious crimes and expose the severity of the issue at a global scale.

Los Angeles: Earth League International, 2023. 83p.

By Alejandro Melgoza and Alex Papadovassilakis

We traveled over 300 kilometers through a trio of nature reserves to document how illegal loggers have ravaged some of the region’s most biodiverse forests and to chronicle the unlikely story of a small group of park rangers fighting back. This investigation, which used video and other multimedia elements to explain this complex criminal economy, is our most in-depth exploration of environmental crime yet..

Washington, DC: InSight Crime, 2022. 38p.

By Nancy Frank

FROM CHAPTER 1: “OVER THE LAST ten to fifteen years, a number of tragic episodes have elevated public consciousness of crimes against health and safety. The Love Canal disaster, in which an entire neighborhood had to be permanently evacuated because it had been built on an abandoned chemical dump, became only a prelude to a growing awareness of hazardous waste disposal problems. In the Pinto case the Ford Motor Company was indicted on charges of reckless homicide for selling the Pinto even though the company allegedly was aware that the car had a tendency to explode when involved in rear-end collisions. The accident at Three Mile Island, in which a nuclear reactor started to melt down before technicians were able to bring it under control, dramatically illustrated the risks that are created and managed by profit-seeking firms.”

NY. Harrow and Heston. 1985. 112p.

By R. Nishino and T. Kitade  

 TRAFFIC conducted online surveys to track changes after voluntary ivory bans were introduced from November 2019 on Yahoo Shopping and Yahoo Auction, Japan’s largest platforms for online ivory trade, following similar voluntary bans already implemented by Rakuten-Ichiba, Rakuma and Mercari. The trading practices of a major auction house, Mainchi Auction, and trends in illegal ivory exports were also examined to understand better the domestic ivory market in Japan. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to assess physical markets. RESULTS: Effective measures by companies The number of shops selling ivory on Yahoo Shopping and Rakuten-Ichiba as B2C (business to consumer) trade and the volume of ivory trade on Yahoo Auction, a mixture of B2C and C2C (consumer to consumer) trade, have reduced by almost 100% and more than 99%, respectively as a result of the platform-wide voluntary ivory ban. There was no observable shift in either B2C or C2C trade to other platforms after the introduction of the ivory ban on Yahoo’s platforms. Monitoring of ivory bans by companies such as Mercari and Rakuma was seen to have been effective 

TRAFFIC, Japan Office, Tokyo, Japan., 2020. 30p.

By R.J. Mather

USAID Wildlife Asia aims to document and understand the current state of wildlife trafficking in Southeast Asia and China through the compilation of secondary information on enforcement actions. USAID Wildlife Asia regularly reviews available information on the trade in elephant, rhinoceros, pangolin and tiger parts and products in target countries, and develops various analyses and recommendations based on this information. This Counter Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) Digest: Southeast Asia and China covers the period January 2017 to December 2017. It is the first in what is expected to be an on-going series, updated every six months. The recommendations provided herein target the broader CWT community and focus on increased government commitment and political will, improved law enforcement, and legal and policy reform processes.

Bangkok: United States Agency for International Development (USAID), March 2018. 39p.

By USAID Wildlife Asia

The USAID Wildlife Asia Activity is a five-year, $24.5 million, regional counter wildlife trafficking initiative addressing the trafficking of pangolins, rhinos, elephants and tigers in Southeast Asia and China. USAID Wildlife Asia regularly updates documentation of the current state of wildlife trafficking of these species through a compilation of secondary sources to report on and analyze trends and changes in patterns of trade. The Activity also provides an evidence base to support decision-making about priority interventions in policy, law enforcement and consumer-demand reduction. This Counter Wildlife Trafficking Digest: Southeast Asia and China, Issue II, covers the period January to December 2018 and is the second issue in the series. The report is based on a compilation of documentation, news articles and reports that are readily available and in the English language only. It is possible that data are missing as a result; therefore, USAID Wildlife Asia does not assume these figures provide a complete data set. The recommendations provided target not only USAID Wildlife Asia directly but also the broader counter wildlife trafficking community and include a focus on social behavior change, improved law enforcement, increased government commitment and political will and effective regional coordination.

Bangkok: USAID Wildlife Asia, 2019. 62p.

By USAID Wildlife Asia

USAID Wildlife Asia is a five-year, US$24.5 million, regional counter wildlife trafficking (CWT) initiative addressing the trafficking of pangolins, tigers, elephants and rhinos in Southeast Asia and China. The USAID Wildlife Asia Activity works to address wildlife trafficking as a transnational crime. The project aims to reduce consumer demand for wildlife parts and products, strengthen law enforcement, enhance legal and political commitment and support regional collaboration to reduce wildlife crime in Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia, China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Thailand, and Vietnam. TRAFFIC is a leading non-governmental organization working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. TRAFFIC collaborated with USAID and many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) when researching and writing this report. This report is the third in a series, which builds on the previous USAID digests, Counter Wildlife Trafficking Digest: Southeast Asia and China, 2017, and Counter Wildlife Trafficking Digest: Southeast Asia and China, 2018. This report covers the period January to December 2019 with a focus on pangolins, tigers, elephants, and rhinos, and highlights the key developments in legislation on conservation, outlines some of the innovative social and behavior change communication (SBCC) research projects and campaigns, and then explores the seizures made in 2019. USAID Wildlife Asia and TRAFFIC regularly collect and update documentation on the current state of wildlife trafficking of these species through a compilation of secondary sources to report on and analyze trends and changes in patterns of trade. This information provides an evidence base to support decision-making about priority interventions in policy, law enforcement, and consumer demand reduction. SBCC covers the range of campaigns and the research that provides information on demand for illegal wildlife products, as well as reducing consumer demand for these goods. A wide range of remarkable SBCC projects have been implemented since the previous digest, with new collaborations between NGOs and the travel industry, and with government agencies taking an active role in reducing demand for wildlife products. This report highlights some of these SBCC campaigns along with the gaps remaining to be filled. As with previous issues, this third issue of the digest is based on a compilation of documentation, news articles, and reports that are readily available in the English language. Unlike previous digests, some information is also drawn from translated documents held in TRAFFIC’s Wildlife Trade Information System (WiTIS). Nevertheless, it is possible that some data are still missing; therefore, USAID Wildlife Asia does not assume the figures included provide a complete data set. The recommendations provided target not only USAID Wildlife Asia directly but also the broader counter wildlife trafficking community and include a focus on social behavior change, improved law enforcement, increased government commitment, political will, and effective regional coordination.

Bangkok: USAID Wildlife Asia, 69p.

By USAID Wildlife Asia

This report is the fourth in a series of USAID Counter Wildlife Trafficking Digests (2017- 2020). This issue covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 2020 and focuses on pangolins, tigers, elephants, and rhinos. It highlights major developments in conservation legislation, outlines some of the innovative social and behavior change communication (SBCC) research projects and campaigns, and explores enforcement efforts and seizures made in 2020. It is intended that this analysis will provide a helpful summary for individuals interested in recent developments in the illegal wildlife trade, and more importantly, catalyze further actions to counter the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade. USAID regularly collects and updates documentation on the current state of wildlife trafficking through a compilation of direct observations, published material and secondary data sources. This data is then evaluated and publicized in order to keep stakeholders and the general public informed. This information also provides an evidence base to support policy reformation, enforcement actions, consumer behavior changes, and conservation interventions.

Bangkok: United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 2022. 80p.

By Jihane Ben Yahia

Summary The goldfinch is at risk of extinction in the Maghreb. 1 Years of unrestrained poaching and trafficking have almost decimated it in Tunisia and Algeria. Morocco, its last preserve in the North African subregion, is today the main hotspot for poaching and trafficking the species. The songbird, which fetches hundreds of euros in neighbouring countries (and in Europe), is prized for its glorious voice and is domesticated and trained for singing competitions. Despite increasing awareness of the threat and many efforts to protect it, Moroccan wildlife and law enforcement authorities are struggling to detect and prosecute poachers and traffickers and prevent the eradication of this ornithological treasure. Key points ∙ The goldfinch has almost disappeared from Tunisia and Algeria and in Morocco its numbers are declining. ∙ The reduction in the population is the result of environmental factors as well as of a high demand in the sub-region and in Europe, where the bird is domesticated and trained to sing in competitions. ∙ Criminal networks use Morocco as a hub for catching goldfinch and trafficking them to Algeria and Tunisia. ∙ Morocco has adopted legislation to protect the goldfinch and launches regular operations to combat the trafficking of protected species. ∙ Bringing goldfinch associations and federations into the regulatory ambit poses a challenge. ∙ There is no dedicated strategy to address the illicit capture and trafficking of the goldfinch in the Maghreb.

ENACT - Africa, 2020. 12p.

By Willis Okumu

Summary: Sandalwood trafficking in Kenya is a multi-million dollar trade that exploits local communities and leads to deforestation. The illegal trade in sandalwood has been sustained by a network of actors, from the community level to international markets. This has resulted in the devastation of community forests and has placed the sandalwood tree at risk of extinction. Meanwhile, middle- and upper-tier actors in this criminal network continue to enrich themselves. While the mandate to protect sandalwood in the wild belongs to the Kenya Forest Services, weaknesses in the Forest Conservation and Management Act No. 34 of 2016 has enabled the prosecution of sandalwood trafficking cases though the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act of 2013. The confusion that has emanated from lack of clarity on enforcement jurisdiction has emboldened sandalwood traffickers when presented in court. Further, lack of harmony in East African conservation laws has further facilitated the protection of Kenyan sandalwood smuggled into Uganda and Tanzania. Key findings ∙ Sandalwood trafficking is an environmental crime that leads to a loss of biodiversity, which has a negative impact on the ability of communities to produce enough food to ensure their livelihoods. ∙ Women seem to control the sandalwood trafficking network in Samburu County, first as harvesters at the community level and then as the traders coordinating linkages between local communities, police officers and other members of state agencies. ∙ Sandalwood trafficking in Kenya seems to rely on state officials who protect this organised crime network. ∙ A multi-agency approach to tackling sandalwood trafficking has had some success since 2020 and should be continued. ∙ Through the support of state and community agencies, sandalwood trees can be propagated in order to enable their sustainable harvesting and the commercialisation of the trade in northern Kenya.

ENACT - Africa, 2020. 20p.

By Jacqueline Cochrane and Ashwell Glasson

Summary Technology offers a critical avenue for nimble, innovative and proactive responses to wildlife crime. Harnessing these opportunities is essential, as wildlife crime is driving the rapid, unsustainable and increasingly irreversible depletion of animal and plant populations. Wildlife crime also poses risks to human security and undermines development and governance. Technology can either boost efforts to combat wildlife crime, or exacerbate and directly enable it. New approaches are needed to develop, procure and implement technology in the wildlife crime response. This policy brief offers a framework for a sustainable and strategic approach that prioritises the human element and maximises impact. Key findings ∙ The illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest illegal trade globally, posing significant risks to human security, development and good governance. ∙ Unlike other illicit commodities, illegal wildlife products are derived from a finite and rapidly dwindling resource. ∙ Technology is not neutral: it can either exacerbate and drive wildlife crime, or significantly boost efforts to combat it. ∙ Decision making around technology must first take stock of corruption as a core enabler of wildlife crime and must adopt a ‘back-to-basics’ approach. ∙ To be sustainable and strategic, the development, procurement and implementation of technology in combating wildlife crime needs to be human-centred.

ENACT-Africa, 2022. 16p.

By United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency; United States. National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration

From the document: "Climate change has resulted in verified impacts to populations, infrastructure, and the economy across the nation. The acceleration of climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of natural disasters and thereby increase the probability of climate-related threats. By anticipating increased response and recovery demands generated by more extreme and frequent disasters, emergency managers can devise ways to manage the impacts from changing climate patterns. This guidance is intended to provide FEMA national and regional planners with an overview of changes to the risk profiles of climate-related hazards for every region so that they may conduct appropriate response and recovery planning activities. Adapting risk profiles for established hazards requires guidance on how to find and incorporate climate information. Most FEMA deliberate plans are developed for the national and regional levels. Typically, these plans are based on short-term assumptions about future conditions using observed data on meteorological conditions. While historical data are essential, they are no longer sufficient given the reality of climate change. Using a defined timeframe and operational area, emergency management planners can define climate-related risks and validate anticipated impacts by accessing authoritative climate resources."

United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency; United States. National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration . 2023. 59p.