Resources

Resources on Illegal Wildlife Trade

Below are some of the most relevant tools, instruments, and reports published by leading organizations on combating IWT. This up-to-date repository can be searched by the use of key words or sorted by column, and is another component facilitating donor coordination on counter-IWT project design, development and implementation. Below the table, other project mapping tools accessible online are presented.

Reports and Handbooks

ReportReport TitlePublisherYear
Analysis of International Funding to Tackle Illegal Wildlife TradeWorld Bank Group2016
A Rapid Assessment on the Trade in Marine Turtles in Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet NamTRAFFIC2019
ASEAN Biodiversity Outlook 2ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity2017
ASEAN Handbook on Legal Cooperation to combat Wildlife CrimeFREELAND and ASEAN-WEN2016
Beyond the PoachingTRAFFIC2020
Changing Behaviour to reduce Demand for Illegal Wildlife ProductsTRAFFIC2016
Collaborative Management Partnership ToolkitThe World Bank2021
Convergence of Wildlife Crime with other Forms of organised CrimeWildlife Justice Commission2021
Corruption and Wildlife TraffickingCMI2015
Countering Illegal Wildlife Trade: Collaborative Actions along Transportation and Supply ChainsTRAFFIC2015
Counter Wildlife Trafficking Digest: Southeast Asia and China, 2020USAID2021
Counter Wildlife Trafficking Initiatives Reference Guide: Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and VietnamUSAID2017
Cracking the CodeWWF2019
Cultivating Demand: The growing Threat of Tiger FarmsEIA2017
Double Impact: The Nexus where Wildlife and Forest Crime overlapEIA2021
Empty Threat: Does the Law combat Illegal Wildlife Trade?DLA Piper2014
Endangered by Trade: The ongoing Illegal Pangolin Trade in the PhilippinesTRAFFIC2020
Enhancing the Detection, Investigation, and Disruption of Illicit Financial Flows from Wildlife CrimeAPG and UNODC2017
Eradicating the Market for Big CatsEIA2018
EU Action Plan against Wildlife TraffickingEuropean Union2016
Financial Flows and Payment Mechanisms behind Wildlife and Forest CrimeTRAFFIC2020
Financial Flows associated with Illegal Wildlife Trade in South AfricaSAMLIT2021
Financial Investigations into Wildlife CrimeEgmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units2020
Global Wildlife EnforcementINTERPOL2018
Grinding RhinoElephant Action League2017
How does Developing Enforcement Capacity reduce Wildlife Crime?USAID2018
How to prevent the next Pandemic?Four Paws2021
ICCWC Annual Report 2020ICCWC2021
Identification Guide for Ivory and Ivory Substitutes - 4th EditionCITES Secretariat and WWF2020
Illegal Logging, Fishing, and Wildlife Trade: The Costs and how to combat itThe World Bank2019
Illicit Wildlife Trade in Southeast AsiaAnalytical Centre of Excellence on Trafficking (ACET)2019
Impacts of Taking, Trade and Consumption of Terrestrial Migratory Species for Wild MeatUNEP-CMS2021
Implications of a Wildlife Trade BanAsian Development Bank2021
In Plane SightROUTES Partnership and C4ADS2018
Insights from the IncarceratedTRAFFIC2020
Legal Framework to address Wildlife Trafficking in the ASEAN RegionUNODC and FREELAND2015
Life on the Frontline 2018WWF2018
Making Wildlife Traffickers Finance Wildlife RecoveryAnalytical Centre of Excellence on Trafficking (ACET)2020
Money Laundering and the Illegal Wildlife TradeFinancial Action Task Force2020
Money Laundering from Environmental CrimeFinancial Action Task Force2021
Offline and in the WildCoalition to end Wildlife Trafficking Online2014
On the Butcher's Block: The Mekong Tiger Trade TrailEIA2020
Pioneering civil lawsuits for harm to threatened species: A guide to claims with examples from IndonesiaConservation Litigation2021
Protecting Asian Elephants from Linear Transport InfrastructureAsian Elephant Transport Working Group2021
Rapid Assessment of the Impact of COVID-19 on Wildlife TraffickingWildlife Justice Commission2020
Red Flag Indicators for Wildlife and Timber Trafficking in Containerized Sea CargoWWF and TRAFFIC2021
Reduced to Skin and Bones Re-examined: Full AnalysisTRAFFIC2016
Reducing Demand for Illegal Wildlife ProductsTRAFFIC, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, and WWF-UK2018
Reversing the Tide of Wildlife Poaching and TraffickingFREELAND2014
Review of Marine Wildlife Protection Legislation in ASEANTRAFFIC2018
Running out of Time: Wildlife Crime Justice Failures in VietnamEnvironmental Investigation Agency2019
Scaling Efforts to Counterwildlife Trafficking through Legislative ReformsUSAID and AIPA2019
Situation Analysis: Covid-19, Wildlife Trade, and Consumer EngagementUSAID, IUCN, and TRAFFIC2021
Situation Analysis: Illegal Wildlife Trade and Consumer Demand Reduction Efforts in ThailandTRAFFIC2020
Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Demand Reduction GuidebookUSAID2020
Southeast Asia: At the Heart of Wildlife TradeTRAFFIC2020
Species in Bushmeat TradeTRAFFIC2021
Stop the new global Terror: Pandemics - The Case for a Planetary Security ProgramAnalytical Center of Excellence on Trafficking2021
Strategies for fighting Corruption in Wildlife Conservation: A PrimerWWF2015
Strengthening legal frameworks for licit and illicit trade in wildlife and forest productsUNEP2018
Tackling Financial Flows from Illegal Wildlife Trade in East AsiaEnvironmental Investigation Agency2021
The Future of Conservation: How Technology is Transforming Wildlife Conservation during COVID-19EarthRanger, Skylight, and WILDLABS2021
The Global Wildlife Program Knowledge Platform 2020 (Annual Report)The World Bank2021
The Harvest of Wildlife for Bushmeat and traditional Medicine in East, South and Southeast AsiaCIFOR2014
The Illegal Wildlife Trade in Southeast AsiaOECD2019
The Poaching Diaries (Vol. 1): Crime Scripting for Wilderness ProblemsCenter for Problem-Oriented Policing and Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement2020
The Rise of Environmental CrimeUNEP, INTERPOL and RHIPTO Rapid
Response–Norwegian Center for Global Analyses
2016
The Trade in Wildlife: A Framework to improve Biodiversity and Livelihood OutcomesInternational Trade Centre2015
Tipping the ScalesC4ADS2020
Trading Faces: A Snapshot of the Online Ivory TradeTRAFFIC2020
Tools and Resources to Combat Illegal Wildlife TradeThe World Bank2018
Using Situational Crime Prevention to address Illegal Wildlife Trade: A ToolkitFFI2021
Visual Identification Guide to the Monitor Lizard Species of the World (Genus Varanus)Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN)/Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Germany2020
Universal Ranger Support Alliance: Action Plan for supporting Implementation of the International Ranger Federation's Chitwan Declaration and furthering the professionalisation of rangers (2021-2025)Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA)2021
When good Conservation becomes good EconomicsThe World Bank2019
WildLeaks ReportEarth League International2020
Wildlife Crime linked to the Internet: Practical Guidelines for Law Enforcement Practitioners (PUBLIC VERSION)INTERPOL2020
Wildlife from Forests to Cages: An Analysis of Wildlife Seizures in the PhilippinesUSAID2021
Wildlife Trade Regulations in the European UnionEuropean Commission2010
World Wildlife Crime ReportUNODC2020

Other Counter-IWT Mapping Tools and Databases

The Global Environmental Crime Tracker

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) developed the Global Environmental Crime Tracker. The data collected from publicly available information is displayed in an interactive dashboard, and you may sort by incident country, species, wildlife product, year, shipping route etc. to obtain information on seizures, rate of arrest and conviction, and drill down to a very detailed level of information on IWT. The Crime Tracker can be accessed here.

Wildlife Trade Portal

The Wildlife Trade Portal is an interactive tool, displaying TRAFFIC’s open source wildlife seizure and incident data. The results are displayed as a list and in dashboard format, and all information is based on publicly accessible sources. Searches criteria include Species, Countries, Time period, Location, and Taxonomic Group, among others. The Portal can be accessed here.

The World Bank – Illegal Wildlife Trade Ebook

This Ebook was developed based on the results of the World Bank report “Analysis of International Funding to tackle Illegal Wildlife Trade” (2016). The tool presents aggregate funding figures, such as per donor and per region, and can be accessed here.

Tackling the Illegal Wildlife Trade Financial Toolkit

Focusing on IWT between Africa and Asia, the toolkit is aimed at supporting financial institutions in addressing and reporting suspicious transactions. It discusses, among others, red flag indicators, highlighting methods by which IWT is concealed within legitimate trade, and provides guidance for financial institutions on how to conduct a risk assessment to identify the specific IWT related risks associated with their unique business. The toolkit can be accessed here.

Conservation Technology Database

The database showcases a range of conservation technologies in the form of an e-book, which can be adopted by GWP interested users in combating IWT. In total, 18 technologies are presented as “Technology Briefs”, which are categorized into the following themes: Reducing Poaching, Reducing Trafficking, Reducing Demand, and Wildlife Monitoring. The database can be accessed here.

ShellBank

ShellBank is the World’s first Marine Turtle Traceability Toolkit and Global Database of Marine Turtle DNA. DNA samples from confiscated turtles and turtle products are compared to samples stored in reference databases, e.g. from nesting or foraging turtles, to find a match. Once the DNA matches, the hotspot where the turtle was most likely poached from can be identified. More information can be accessed here.

EndPandemics

EndPandemics is a global alliance of organizations that launched a global coordinated campaign to reduce the risks of pandemics by addressing the root causes of all zoonotic outbreaks. Solutions featured are aligned with at least one of the Alliance’s four pillars of action: Protect Nature, Stop Trafficking, Reduce Demand, and Reform Farming. You may learn more about the Alliance and its initiatives here.

People not Poaching

The People Not Poaching online learning platform aims to support community-based approaches to tackling IWT. With contributions from practitioners and communities, the initiative aims to gather a global evidence base that will build awareness and knowledge-sharing about community approaches to reducing IWT. The platform shares experiences of community-based initiatives used to combat poaching via case studies and resources. The platform can be reached here.

Global Fishing Watch Map

The Global Fishing Watch Map is the first open-access online tool for visualization and analysis of vessel-based human activity at sea. Anyone with an internet connection can access the map to monitor global fishing activity from 2012 to the present for more than 65,000 commercial fishing vessels that are responsible for a significant part of global seafood catch. The map can be accessed here.

Oxpeckers – Investigative Environmental Journalism

The Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism is Africa’s first journalistic investigation unit focusing on environmental issues. The Center combines traditional investigative reporting with data analysis and geo-mapping tools to expose eco-offences and track organised criminal syndicates. The website contains a wide variety of tools, such as #WildEye Asia and #WildEye Europe, PoachTracker, RhinoCourtCases, and #MineAlert. These tools can be accessed here.

ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure)

ENCORE highlights how the economy depends on nature and how environmental change creates risks for businesses. The tool helps global banks, investors and insurance firms assess the risks that environmental degradation causes for financial institutions. These risks can be explored further to understand location-specific risks with maps of natural capital assets and drivers of environmental change. The tool can be accessed here.

Relevant Libraries and Toolkits

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
IUCN
https://www.iucnredlist.org/

 

Species+
UNEP-WCMC and CITES
https://speciesplus.net/

Human-Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Library
IUCN-Species Survival Commission
https://www.hwctf.org/document-library

 

Dugong and Seagrass Research Toolkit
UNEP-CMS
http://www.conservation.tools/launch/

 

Toolbox for Indigenous Territorial Management and Community-based Natural Resource Management
WCS – (Spanish)
https://herramientasgti.org/#/home

 

African Elephant Database
IUCN-Species Survival Commission
https://africanelephantdatabase.org/

 

Theory of Change Builder
IDInsight
https://guide.idinsight.org/method/theory-of-change/

 

3D Shark Fin Scan Library and How-to Guide
TRAFFIC
https://www.traffic.org/3d-replica-shark-fins/