Rhinos, elephants, pangolins, cedars, rosewoods & agarwood most affected by illegal wildlife trade: UNODC
Rhinos, elephants, pangolins, cedars, rosewoods & agarwood most affected by illegal wildlife trade: UNODC
Sub: Environment
Section: Species in news
Context:
- The 2024 World Wildlife Crime Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime offers a comprehensive analysis of the illegal wildlife trade from 2015 to 2021.
World Wildlife Crime Report:
- It is the 3rd edition (2024) of the report and earlier editions were published in 2016 and 2020.
- It probes trends in the illicit trafficking of protected wildlife species.
- It also presents systematic analyses of wildlife crime harms and impacts, probes the factors driving wildlife trafficking trends, and takes stock of current knowledge about the effectiveness of the different types of intervention being pursued to resolve this problem.
Major Findings on Species Impacted:
- Key Species: The rhino and the cedar were the most affected species, with rhino horns and cedar trees being heavily targeted by traffickers.
| Animal Products | Plant products |
| Rhino Horn: Represented the largest market share at 29%. Pangolin Scales: Close second at 28%. Elephant Ivory: Accounted for 15% of the market. Additional species impacted include eels (5%), crocodilians (5%), parrots and cockatoos (2%), carnivores (2%), turtles and tortoises (2%), snakes (2%), and seahorses (2%). Animal-derived medicines: Made up 10% of all seizures. | Cedars and Other Sapindales: Dominated the plant market at 47%. Rosewoods: Second largest at 35%. Agarwood and Other Myrtales: Included species like ramin and eucalyptus at 13%. Other Notables: Golden chicken ferns and orchids each comprised 1% of the market. Corals: Comprised the highest proportion of seizures at 16% |
Challenges and Adaptability of Traffickers:
- Traffickers increasingly use technology to reach global markets, complicating enforcement efforts.
- Corruption acts as a significant barrier to effective regulation and law enforcement.
Trade in Wildlife:
- Illegal wildlife trade encompasses unlawful actions related to the capturing, gathering, transportation, and commerce of wildlife and their commodities.
- This includes live animals, various animal components, and derivatives.
- In India, the trade involving more than 1,800 species of wild animals, plants, and their derivatives is forbidden as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
- Headquarters: Vienna, Austria
- Established in 1997 through a merger between the United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention.
- It is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime, in addition to being responsible for implementing the United Nations lead programme on terrorism.
- Funding: It relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from governments, to carry out the majority of our work.
- Functions:
- It works to educate people throughout the world about the dangers of drug abuse.
- Strengthen international action against illicit drug production and trafficking and drug-related crime.
- It also works to improve crime prevention and assist with criminal justice reform to strengthen the rule of law, promote stable and viable criminal justice systems and combat the growing threats of transnational organized crime and corruption.
- In 2002, the UN General Assembly approved an expanded programme of activities for the Terrorism Prevention Branch of UNODC. The activities focus on assisting States, on request, in ratifying and implementing the eighteen universal legal instruments against terrorism.