Saint Petersburg/Geneva/Lyon/Vienna/Washington
D.C./Brussels, 23 November 2010 - While
the majority of the discussions at the International
Tiger Forum in Saint Petersburg this week
are understandably on the tiger's habitats
and ecosystems, the heads of five major
international agencies have met to seal
a powerful alliance
to fight wildlife crime effectively and
discuss collective actions to stop the key
drivers that are bringing the largest of
the wild cats to the brink of extinction:
poaching, smuggling and illegal trade.
The Secretary-General
of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES), the Secretary-General of
ICPO-INTERPOL, the Executive Director of
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC), the President of the World Bank
and the Secretary-General of the World Customs
Organization (WCO) have signed a Letter
of Understanding that brings into effect
today the International Consortium on Combating
Wildlife Crime (ICCWC).
Commenting on the creation
of the consortium in the UN International
Year of Biodiversity, CITES Secretary-General
John Scanlon said: "ICCWC sends a very
clear message that a new era of wildlife
law enforcement is upon us, one where wildlife
criminals will face a determined and coordinated
opposition, rather than the current situation
where the risks of detection and of facing
penalties that match their crimes are often
low."
"Poaching and illegal
trade have brought wild tigers close to
the point of no return. Only if we work
together, can we ensure that tigers will
survive. Our children should inherit the
privilege of looking at tigers in the wild
and not only behind bars in a zoo. Instead,
it is those criminals who poach and smuggle
tigers that should be the ones behind bars,"
he added.
"The threat of
wildlife and environmental crime is one
which is taken very seriously by INTERPOL
as demonstrated by the recent unanimous
vote by our General Assembly in support
of greater global policing efforts in these
areas," said INTERPOL Secretary General
Ronald K. Noble. "Environmental crime
is global theft and as the world's largest
police organization INTERPOL is committed,
with the support of each of our 188 member
countries, to build on the work already
being done in protecting our planet for
future generations."
"The United Nations
Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has asked
me to convey his strong support of this
timely Forum. He welcomes this initiative
and expects it to achieve tangible results,
" said Executive Director of the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime Yury Fedotov.
"Wildlife crime frequently involves
money laundering, fraud, counterfeiting
and violence, and in some cases it may have
links to terrorist activities or insurgencies.
Ending wildlife crime against tigers and
other endangered species, particularly transnational
trafficking, requires a coordinated global
response. At the national level, we need
to strengthen law enforcement capacity to
deal with this and environmental crime more
broadly. Internationally, we must encourage
and develop a culture of cooperation and
criminal intelligence sharing to stop transnational
trafficking in endangered species."
"Our wildlife is
precious and an essential part of the earth's
rich biodiversity, making it incumbent upon
all of us to stand together and take concerted
action to protect endangered species from
prevailing threats," said Secretary
General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya. "Already
committed to protecting the environment,
the global Customs community is pleased
to be a party to this international consortium
and I am sure that WCO Member Customs administrations
will play a key role in strengthening border
controls to combat wildlife crime through
enhanced cooperation and the active sharing
of vital information, Mikuriya added.
"We know what is
causing the decline in numbers of wild tigers:
illegal poaching, trafficking, and loss
of habitat," said World Bank President
Robert B. Zoellick. "But the good news
is that tiger populations can recover. We
have to protect their habitats and ranges;
target illegal trade; and find ways that
people can benefit more from live tigers
than dead ones."
In the run-up to Saint
Petersburg summit, an ICCWC concept group
provided enforcement-related guidance to
the Global Tiger Initiative and drafted
the section on combating wildlife crime
in the Global Tiger Recovery Program. Now
that the ICCWC Letter of Understanding is
signed, the five agencies are ready to help
deliver action on the ground to bring criminals
to justice.
Although specialized
staff from the five agencies have worked
together in the past to support national
agencies in their efforts to tackle the
increasingly organized and sophisticated
nature of wildlife crime, this will be the
first time that they work collaboratively
in this field. ICCWC will bring together
the expertise of each agency in a formidable
manner.
The Letter of Understanding
was signed in Lyon by the Secretary-General
of CITES, John Scanlon, and Ronald K. Noble,
Secretary-General of INTERPOL, and in Brussels
by Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of
the World Customs Organization. Two more
signatures were placed on the Letter today:
those of Yury Fedotov, Executive Director
of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, and Robert Zoellick, President of
the World Bank.
The last two signatures
having been added to the document today,
the International Consortium on Combating
Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) comes into effect.
Protected from international
commercial trade through a listing in CITES
Appendix I since 1975, tigers still suffer
significantly from illegal trade. They are
poached for their skins and body parts,
which are used for decorative and traditional
medicine purposes.
It is almost four decades
since the world realized that tiger numbers
were falling alarmingly. Since the 1970s,
governments and the conservation community
have spent tens of millions of dollars trying
to save this magnificent animal. Those efforts
have unfortunately not yet lead to a reverse
in the decline in tiger populations, which
is why the leaders of tiger range States
are meeting in St Petersburg this week.
