Key sources of information and engagement

Companies can find a wealth of information, resources and opportunities to engage in Collective Action to tackle wildlife crime and reduce their risk profiles through the following organisations:

TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC is a non-governmental organisation working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. TRAFFIC works with enforcement agencies along supply chains to ensure they are equipped to detect, identify and prevent illegal trade.

It also provides government, decision-makers, traders, businesses, consumers and others with an interest in wildlife trade with reliable information about trade volumes, trends, pathways and impacts, along with guidance on how to respond where trade is illegal or unsustainable.

ROUTES Partnership

The USAID Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) Partnership is a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to disrupt wildlife trafficking by reducing the use of legal transportation supply chains. ROUTES produces numerous helpful and authoritative resources for the transport sector, including communication and training materials, reports, factsheets and expert contact lists.

ROUTES is led by a core group of partners collaborating with the U.S. Government and the transport sectors, including the Airports Council International (ACI), the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), TRAFFIC and WWF. The Partnership is funded by USAID and coordinated by TRAFFIC.

United for Wildlife

United for Wildlife, an initiative of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is a multi-stakeholder project bringing together conservation organisations, governments and global corporations to jointly tackle IWT. Its activities are primarily carried out by two taskforces:

• Established in 2015, the Transport Taskforce brings together high-level representatives of customs agencies, container shipping companies, airlines, logistics companies and freight forwarders, along with representatives from organisations engaged in conservation and anti-trafficking activities. Transport Taskforce members sign the Buckingham Palace Declaration, with 11 provisions setting out how they will achieve their commitment to "not knowingly facilitate or tolerate the carriage of [illegal] wildlife products”.
• The Financial Taskforce was launched in October 2018 to gather banks and other financial institutions vulnerable to illicit funds arising from illegal wildfire trade. Members must sign the Mansion House Declaration, with six commitments focused on implementing “appropriate measures” to “improve the identification and reporting of this crime and contribute to the global fight against IWT.”

As part of their membership, signatories receive case-specific intelligence alerts and regular strategic information bulletins on wildlife trafficking trends, typologies and red flags to Taskforce members. The Taskforces are also a powerful platform for joint action against the illicit trade.

Targeting Natural Corruption (TNRC)

TNRC is a USAID-funded project to improve biodiversity outcomes by helping practitioners to address the threats posed by corruption to wildlife, fisheries, and forests. Its Knowledge Hub has a wealth of new practical research developed to help strengthen anti-corruption policy and practice in conservation and natural resource management.

TNRC is implemented by a consortium of leading organisations in anti-corruption, natural resource management, and conservation: World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, TRAFFIC, and the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at George Mason University.

Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)

The OECD works with governments and other stakeholders on issues including illicit trade, responsible mining and environmental policies. It publishes regular authoritative reports on these topics aimed at or useful to the private sector, including an in-depth 2018 report on Strengthening Governance and Reducing Corruption Risks to Tackle Illegal Wildlife Trade: Lessons from East and Southern Africa. The OECD and Basel Institute on Governance have joined forces to co-host a series of virtual events in 2021 on Corrupting the Environment.

Basel Institute on Governance – Green Corruption programme

Green Corruption at the Basel Institute on Governance is a multi-disciplinary programme targeting environmental degradation through an anti-corruption and governance approach.

The premise behind the programme is that removing opportunities for corruption, tracing illicit financial flows and confiscating the proceeds of crime will help to dismantle the criminal organisations that are exploiting the planet for personal gain. The programme builds on the Basel Institute's almost two decades of experience in fighting corruption, tracing and recovering stolen assets, and strengthening governance around the world.

The Green Corruption programme produces regular research publications and practical resources, such as this one, as well as public events on environmental crime gathering members of the public, private and third sectors.

Other relevant organisations

Many organisations, associations and networks targeted at government authorities responsible for enforcing wildlife crime regulations provide useful resources on their websites for the private sector as well. Some are also starting to actively engage with business in the recognition that private companies are key to addressing wildlife crime. These include:

• INTERPOL, which plays a key role in coordinating international operations aimed at disrupting wildlife crime networks.
• The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), with representatives from CITES, UNODC, INTERPOL, The World Bank and the World Customs Organization (WCO).
• Regional wildlife enforcement networks, such as the Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) and the Horn of Africa Wildlife Enforcement Network (HAWEN).
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which provides guidance to governments on the adoption and implementation of crime-related conventions. UNODC recognises IWT as one of the largest transnational organised criminal activities alongside trafficking in drugs, weapons and human beings. It publishes analyses of wildlife trafficking trends and other useful guidance such as its World Wildlife Crime report and Scaling Back Corruption.
• The UNEP hosts CITES and provides regular assessments of global, regional and national environmental conditions and trends. 
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a recognised global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it, compiling and publishing scientific data on species threatened with extinction on its Red List to aid states and CITES in conservation decisions. IUCN operates an information service on wildlife-related legislation and case law, located at wildlex.org.