TRAFFIC

Subject: Environment

Context:

A recent study by TRAFFIC India on the seizure and mortality of ‘common leopards’ revealed that of the total of 747 leopard deaths between 2015-2019 in India, 596 were linked to illegal wildlife trade and activities related to poaching.

Concept:

• TRAFFIC is a leading non-governmental organisation working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
• It is a joint program of WWF and IUCN.
• TRAFFIC works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.
• TRAFFIC has gained its greatest reputation from supporting CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
• TRAFFIC focuses on leveraging resources, expertise and awareness of the latest globally urgent species trade issues such as tiger parts, elephant ivory and rhino horn.
• Large scale commercial trade in commodities like timber and fisheries products are also addressed and linked to work on developing rapid results and policy improvements.