Protecting Our Wildlife - Q1 - Feb 2019

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IVONNE HIGUERO, CITES SECRETARY-GENERAL “People can and must be the solution.” » p2

UN ENVIRONMENT Global celebrities are championing species to raise awareness. » p6

HON ALEX MAJOR, MP KASUNGU WEST AND MPCC CO-CHAIR The fight against wildlife crime. » p11

Protecting Our Wildlife

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We cannot afford for this fight to be a priority solely for conservationists any more. It is an issue for us all.”

- His Royal Highness and The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William

IMAGE: AT THE INVITATION OF THE TANZANIAN GOVERNMENT, THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE VISITED THE COUNTRY’S IVORY STOCKPILE.

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IN THIS ISSUE

Mr Zurab Pololikashvili UNWTO Secretary-General on wildlife tourism

Dr Jane Goodall On hope and ending wildlife trafficking with ForeverWild #4EVERWILD

ONLINE

ONLINE

Céline Cousteau & The TreadRight Foundation Improving the treatment of wildlife by the travel and tourism sector ONLINE CREDIT: PAULAFRENCH

Wildlife conservation is a daunting task, but there is good news too Many people around the world are increasingly aware and concerned about the crisis facing our planet’s iconic species and the danger of extinctions. Indeed, wildlife around the world is facing various threats, including habitat loss and demand for illegally-sourced wildlife and their products, which has led to massive poaching and trafficking.

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oaching and wildlife trafficking have reached unprecedented levels, robbing the livelihoods of local communities and threatening the ecosystem and national economy of countries. Some of the most worrisome examples we have heard about include the poaching of over 30,000 elephants for their ivory between 2010 and 2012, and that the poaching of African rhino increased 12-fold in 10 years in South Africa, the largest range country of rhinos in the world.

But I also believe we must make more efforts to communicate the good news and give reasons for hope.

The poaching of African elephants has been on the downward trend for seven consecutive years. In some range countries the populations have been increasing, thanks to the concerted efforts in source, transit and destination countries, including the ban in domestic trade in ivory in key destination countries. Rhino poaching in South Africa has also declined for the last four years and more rhino poachers were convicted

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in 2018 than ever before. The recent sentencing of the “Ivory Queen” to 15 years in Tanzania is another good example which shows that countries are serious about wildlife crime.

High-level political commitments to end illegal wildlife trafficking We now have political commitments from the highest levels. There have been three resolutions on combating wildlife trafficking adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals also address illicit trade in wildlife. Such commitments must be – and are being – translated into action on the ground, particularly at the national level.

But there is always more that can be done to continue these upward trends. CITES is taking a threepronged approach to deal with wildlife trafficking: through law enforcement, demand reduction and improvement to the livelihoods of rural communities, including through collaboration with the

Some of the most worrisome examples we have heard about include the poaching of over 30,000 elephants for their ivory between 2010 and 2012, and that the poaching of African rhino increased 12-fold in 10 years in South Africa, the largest range country of rhinos in the world.”

International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC).

Over three billion people depend on marine welfare The theme of this year’s World Wildlife Day is, “Life below water: for people and planet”. Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.

While wildlife has sustained human civilization and development for millennia, all the threats facing the world’s wildlife are caused by people. People can and must be the solution.

IVONNE HIGUERO Secretary-General, CITES

Rural communities in close proximity to wildlife are part of the solution In particular, we must engage and build the resilience of poor, rural communities that live alongside wildlife or are dependent on the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife. Most of the success stories in CITES include improving rural communities’ livelihoods through legal, sustainable trade. We have such stories from every continent involving a wide range of species. We need policies to spur more of such effective engagement with people.

The ever-growing level of interest in CITES demonstrates the confidence of the world’s governments in this convention. It also clearly demonstrates the parties’ aim to implement CITES as a mechanism to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as it pays equal attention to environmental, social and economic sustainability.

The Protecting Our Wildlife Campaign will be ongoing in the run-up to the next World Wildlife

Conference - the CITES CoP18, where the 183 CITES Parties (182 countries + the European Union) will gather in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to address some of the most crucial issues in wildlife conservation. We invite you to join us in our efforts to successfully conserve and sustainably use wildlife and spread the news on best practices; we must show what can work and what has worked to ensure that trends improve for all endangered species.

CITES The Protecting Our Wildlife Campaign is being launched in the framework of this year’s World Wildlife Day on 3 March, the day the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in 1973.

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Joining forces to halt poaching and trafficking across Africa and Asia Illegal wildlife trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar trade. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UK government, and the World Bank are uniting to tackle poaching, trafficking and demand.

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oachers armed with AK-47s and backed by sophisticated wildlife trafficking syndicates have decimated Mozambique’s elephant population over the past seven years.

On the ground, rangers risk their lives daily to protect Niassa’s remaining elephants from these poachers.

“The poachers shoot to kill, not to make us run away,” said Niassa Ranger Vasco Assane.

Mozambique, like many other countries in Asia and Africa, is facing a poaching crisis that is threatening national security and its ecological integrity. Strengthening law enforcement, including support to rangers on the front line of the war on wildlife, is one of the many strategies being deployed by the Global Wildlife Program (GWP) to help 19 countries combat the illegal wildlife trade.

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Mobilising funds and using a multi-pronged approach Funded by the GEF with grants totaling $131 million, the World Bankled GWP provides critical knowledge and supports action on the ground.

The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and UN Environment join with in-country partners to implement each of the 20 projects that constitute the programme.

Under the GWP, national projects can achieve greater impact than if they worked individually. They also benefit from strategic partnerships and leveraging financing.

“The GEF has redesigned its funding strategy for the next four years to step up its support to help stamp out the illegal wildlife trade,” said Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson. “We will make funds available to support countries’ efforts to prevent poaching in wildlife areas,

and we will also work on reducing consumer demand.”

teams and partners who are in a race against time to save wildlife.

Species are facing extinction due to illegal poaching With wildlife trafficking reaching unprecedented levels—threatening iconic species with extinction and robbing local communities of their livelihoods—the GWP and its partners are tackling the illegal wildlife trade's entire supply chain.

Efforts to save species and preserve protected areas include anti-poaching interventions, integrated landscape management, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, improved legislation and prosecution for effective law enforcement, and campaigns that promote changing the behaviour of people to stop purchasing illegal wildlife products.

Additionally, the programme curates and shares the latest research and tools in conservation with project

Building strategic partnerships on the ground The GWP engages local communities, who can be the first line of defence against wildlife crime, so they can benefit from wildlife conservation and management through activities like nature-based tourism, natural-resource management, and conservation-based livelihoods.

"The GWP is strengthening governance at the local and national levels to address threats to wildlife and at the same time encouraging the sustainable use of natural resources to reduce poverty," said Karin Kemper, the World Bank’s Senior Director for Environment and Natural Resources.

“Importantly, this work is creating sustainable economic opportunities for communities that live near wildlife.”

The GWP and GEF are promoting

more partnerships between governments, NGOs, and donors to respond to the growing wildlife crisis.

With the support of the UK and other donor countries, the GEF has allocated $168 million to stop wildlife crime over its new funding cycle, an increase of $37 million on previous years. It could hardly be more timely, or urgent.

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Challenging the illegal wildlife trade around the globe It is a horrifying thought that just during my lifetime – since the start of the 1970s – well over half of all mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds have disappeared from our planet.

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abitats have been destroyed through climate change or deforestation, and vulnerable species hunted to the point of extinction by poachers.

Losses like this can’t go on. We must tread more lightly on the planet, stop hacking at the roots of the tree of life, and pass on to our children a healthier, more bountiful, natural world.

It’s a vital message, and thanks to this ‘Protecting our Wildlife’ campaign, it’s one that many more people will hear in coming months.

In the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan we set out our ambitions – which will be reinforced in our forthcoming Environment Bill - to protect and enhance our landscapes and seascapes, and the wildlife that relies upon them for their survival.

Illegal wildlife trade is worth up to £17bn a year The plight of endangered species, and tackling the organised criminals who prey upon them, are a particular priority. In vulnerable communities around the world, poachers zero in on the rarest animals, trees and plants before sending their illegal haul across continents to satisfy global demand.

This illegal wildlife trade is both abhorrent and lucrative - thought to be worth up to £17bn a year – and we are in the forefront of international efforts to tackle it.

At the London Illegal Wildlife Trade conference in October last year, supported by HRH the Duke of Cambridge, we welcomed over 70 countries and more than 400 charity and conservation groups, and urged them to commit to finding new

Habitats have been destroyed through climate change or deforestation, and vulnerable species hunted to the point of extinction by poachers.”

ways to tackle this moral and environmental scandal.

Cutting ivory trade by a third by 2020 For our part, when our domestic ivory ban comes into force later this year, it will be one of the toughest in the world – ensuring a complete end to commercial dealing in elephant ivory with only limited and carefully-defined exemptions.

We will use this ban, backed

RT HON MICHAEL GOVE MP Environment Secretary, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

by legislation, as a platform to lobby for further action to protect iconic species. The newly-created international Ivory Alliance 2024, which I have the honour of chairing, aims to cut the poaching of elephants for their ivory by one-third by 2020, and two-thirds by 2024. Through the IWT Challenge Fund, meanwhile, the UK has invested £18.5 million in over 60 projects.

Laos commits to total ban on ivory trade The international community is also playing its part. News that Laos had committed to a total ban on ivory was one of the highlights of the London conference. We were also delighted by the announcement that the US will fund projects to counter wildlife trafficking to the tune of over $90 million in the coming year.

British military taskforce to counter poaching International co-operation is vital.

Building on successful deployments in Gabon and Malawi, the UK is putting £900,000 of new funding into developing a British military counter-poaching taskforce. Its members will train African park rangers in more effective and safer counter-poaching techniques as they seek to disrupt those who would kill elephants – a magnificent keystone species – simply for their ivory.

Some 65 countries signed up to the London declaration – an important symbol of international cooperation, and of our determination to stamp out the illegal wildlife trade. For good.

Read more at globalcause.co.uk

Partnerships are crucial to tackling illegal wildlife trade Wildlife trafficking is one of the biggest threats facing many of the world’s species, driven by an insatiable demand for products like ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales and tiger bones.

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any of the world’s wildlife species are in crisis. Today, we see extraordinary levels of poaching and trafficking of iconic species such as rhinos, elephants and tigers driven by greed, corruption and demand. The levels of poaching are now posing a serious threat to their survival in the wild.

This threat goes far beyond these iconic species and includes many others such as pangolins, plants and reptiles. We will only ever stem this horrific trade, if there is global cooperation and collective ambition from across the private sector, local communities, governments and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs).

As The Duke of Cambridge has said; “We cannot afford for this fight to be a priority solely for conservationists any more. It is an issue for us all.”

1,000 human deaths due to wildlife trafficking in the last 10 years The impacts of wildlife crime reach far

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wider than just a decline in species.

Valued between 5-23 billion USD per year, wildlife trafficking ranks amongst the four most lucrative global crimes and is linked to instability and criminality in both demand and supply countries. This transnational, organised crime is fueled by corruption. It damages economic growth and sustainable development and robs communities of their future.

Over a thousand rangers have been killed in the line of duty in the last decade. Through trafficking, thousands of local communities are being deprived of their most valuable natural resources and a route out of poverty.

In His Royal Highness’s global efforts to combat many other criminal activities, United for Wildlife has driven the engagement of the private sector, not simply to ask them for funding but to learn from them and to use their knowledge and expertise.

Combatting wildlife trafficking should be no different given that

We cannot afford for this fight to be a priority solely for conservationists any more. It is an issue for us all.” the products move through global transport routes and the proceeds touch global financial institutions.

Working through partnerships to support change The sheer scale, criminality and impact of wildlife crime is often misunderstood and under estimated.

It is often seen as someone else’s problem. After years of incremental progress, small wins and small successes are no longer good enough.

We need to be bigger. Only together, globally, through innovative partnerships, will we have the kind of impact so urgently needed.

The private sector is crucial in these efforts. Partnerships with

NAOMI DOAK PhD Head of Conservation Programmes The Royal Foundation

businesses that have touch points with illegal wildlife trade chains is key to breaking these chains. We need to disrupt and deter the supply and we need to destroy the flow of illegal money.

Through United for Wildlife, The Duke of Cambridge leads two taskforces – in finance and transport - that are driving the action needed to eradicate wildlife crime. With more than 100 transport companies and 30 financial sector stakeholders, collaboration with these partners is crucial if the species and communities impacted by poaching are to be given a future. Too often good work is done in a silo, rather than in a partnership.

Two-pronged disruption: trafficking transport routes and illegal incomes The Transport Taskforce is helping disrupt transport routes that move illegal products while the Financial Taskforce is working to root out illegal income. It will enable disruption of

global criminal enterprises that are sophisticated, coordinated, adaptable and professional.

Only working together with governments, private sector and civil society, across borders and continents will provide the necessary fully integrated approach needed, and only where we work together, will it work at all. These partnerships mean there is no need to re-invent the wheel. It just means using it better.

As The Duke of Cambridge said: “By disrupting the income of the illegal wildlife trade, we can disrupt a global criminal enterprise that brings great harm to communities all around the world. And we will be part of something that protects wildlife for future generations.”

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Over 26,500 species are still threatened with extinction. We must act now Many species around the world are still under severe threat and remain Critically Endangered. According to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, more than 26,500 global species are threatened with extinction. It is our duty and moral responsibility to ensure the survival and conservation of our world’s wonderful species so each can thrive and co-exist today and for future generations to come.

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ll Known as ‘flying ivory’, the helmeted hornbill’s helmet, or ‘casque’, is highly sought-after for carving into jewellery and trinkets. Due to the desirability of the helmeted hornbill’s casque, poaching is often funded by organised crime. This severe poaching pressure and widespread habitat loss in its forest ranges in Asia means the helmeted hornbill is Critically Endangered according to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List. That’s one step away from extinction in the wild.

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The Sumatran tiger is Critically Endangered with fewer than 500 remaining in the wild. Sumatran tigers are killed for their skin, bones and canines, which are all used in East Asian traditional medicine. Habitat loss is also a threat due to palm oil, coffee and acacia plantations, and smallholder encroachment. Riau and Kerinci Seblat National Park in Aceh, Indonesia, are home to more than 60% of all wild Sumatran tigers, so protection in these areas is critically important to its survival.

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The sandbar shark is found in subtropical and warm temperate waters around the world and is Endangered in the Mediterranean. Adult sandbar sharks measure up to two and a half metres in length and live up to 40 years of age. The species is threatened by fishing practices. Gökova Bay in Turkey is the only known breeding spot for the species in this nearly-landlocked sea.

Therefore, adequate protection of the bay is vital for ensuring the survival of the sandbar shark in this part of the world.

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A coral reef in good health is like a busy underwater city, bustling with marine life, filled with colour and offering rich pickings for sea turtles, rays and sharks.

It is estimated that 25% of all marine life in the sea depend on these coral reef ecosystems. Sadly, coral reefs are in steep decline. Due to overfishing, development, pollution and climate change, research suggests 50% of the world’s reefs have been eradicated in the last 30 years. Unless we act now, we risk destroying all these beautiful and vital ecosystems.

Pangolins are one of the world’s least known and most poached animals.

A prehistoric mammal that has been around for 80 million years, they live in a variety of habitats, can swim long distances and dig 40 metre burrows.

Unfortunately, they are a favourite for poachers, with almost all their body parts and flesh sold on the black market.

More than one million pangolins are estimated to have been taken from the wild and killed since 2000 and they are now believed to be the most trafficked mammal in the world.

The Antiguan racer snake is endemic to Antigua and Barbuda. Following the introduction of rats and mongooses in the 1800s, the species suffered a drastic decline and by 1995, only around 50 survived on one offshore islet. Work by conservationists to eradicate alien species and reintroduce the Antiguan racer onto other offshore islands has seen the population increase to over 1,100 individuals. Despite this increase, the Antiguan racer is still under severe threat and remains critically endangered.

EDITORIAL SOURCE: Fauna & Flora International IMAGE CREDITS: Helmeted hornbill, Craig Ansibin. Sumatran tiger, Colin Eaton. Sandbar shark, wrangel. Coral Reef, dwphotos. Pangolin, Daniel Haesslich. Antiguan racer snake, Jenny Daltry.

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Organised wildlife crime is driving species’ extinction and celebs are helping to stop it The loss of space, climate change and an insatiable demand for wildlife products, increasingly fed by transnational organised crime, conspire to drive species to the brink of extinction.

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he world is dealing with an unprecedented threat to wildlife. The loss of habitat as a result of farming, mining and new development has dramatically shrunk the natural space available to wildlife.

Maintaining viable populations of these species is vital to maintaining healthy ecosystems, building prosperity for people in developing countries, and to leaving a legacy of a thriving natural world safeguarded for future generations.

The global campaign to end illegal wildlife poaching In 2016, UN Environment launched a global digital campaign in eight languages — with UN partners, governments, businesses, civil

society and key opinion leaders — to build a dynamic force for change.

The campaign used the insight that people protect what they love and that, most often, we love what we know. Global news stories about the legal killing of Cecil the lion and the illegal killing of Satao the elephant, highlighted the fact that, though thousands of lions, elephants and myriad other species are poached or illegally trafficked for their parts – or as live animals – often it is only those with names that get our attention.

To make wildlife crime relevant to the masses #WildforLife - Wildlife Crime Just Got Personal - was born.

Its aim — to mobilise the public to inform governments that these endangered species

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NADYA HUTAGALUNG

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his year, World Wildlife Day is more important than ever.

In spite of the pressing environmental issues facing Planet Earth, many people choose to focus only on their own lives instead of wildlife or the environment.

As humans, we have a choice to take action to improve our surroundings.

Animals do not have any choices available to them and are experiencing tragic losses to their habitats and diversity. Many people do not realise that over 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have gone extinct since 1970, due to human activity. We must stop deforestation and the illegal wildlife trade with their devastating consequences to animals and humans.

I’m taking a stand for my generation to spread the word — animal ecosystems are intimately entwined with humans as a life support system for us all! For our future, please join me in protecting all wildlife and share this message.

Aidan Gallagher is an actor, singermusician and environmental activist starring in Netflix’s highly anticipated series, The Umbrella Academy. Gallagher also starred as “Nicky” in Nickelodeon’s Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn. In 2018, The United Nations Environment Program designated Gallagher as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for North America. At only 14, Gallagher made history as the youngest Goodwill Ambassador ever to be designated in the UN system.

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once had a great phobia of all things under the sea. Once I got up close and personal with the incredible corals, of all shapes and sizes, and the huge array of fish – every spectrum of the rainbow – it was almost impossible to get me out of the water.

About a year later, and after the birth of my first child, I went diving in the same location and was shocked to find the corals mostly grey and crumbled.

There were limited fish and there was plastic on the beach. I was horrified. As a new mother, it was at that moment I realised that, if my world can change so drastically in one year, how about in the lifetime of my child? It was from that moment on that I began to really intensify my thoughts on our impact on this planet and pledged to do whatever was within my capacity to make a difference.

Each and every one of us can make a difference. We protect what we love.

Nadya Hutagalung is an eco-activist, television host, former model and mother of three. She is a household name across Asia. As a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador in 2017, Nadya joined Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment and actor Adrian Grenier in launching the global campaign - #cleanseas - and is a face of the UNs global #wildforlife campaign.

have our attention and our protection. We expect them to act to stop the poaching crisis.

Its message underscores that greed, fashion, ignorance, indifference, investment, corruption, pseudo- medicinal use and cultural belief should not result in threats to any species. It asks participants to use their own spheres of influence to end the illegal trade, however it touches or impacts them.

Celebrities championing species to raise awareness The campaign was designed around a “social first” strategy that deployed its portfolio of celebrity goodwill ambassadors who each championed a species. Their combined reach across social media platforms was over half a billion.

Today, there are 16 global celebrities who are the faces of 16 species, including, orangutan, helmeted hornbill, elephant, pangolin, sea

WANG JUNKAI

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e youth have the responsibility to protect our environment and secure a future where wild animals still exist, as they are indicators of the health of our planet. This year, for World Wildlife Day, we young people should no longer be onlookers of environmental action but active agents of change that take care of our earth.

Our biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, and scientists all over the world agree that we are facing the sixth global extinction crisis. Elephants, giraffe, pangolins, rhino, tigers and many other amazing species used to roam all over our continent. Now, there are tiny populations barely surviving. We don’t need to buy or eat products from these species to be cool!

I am proud to work with UN Environment to protect our precious wildlife and raise awareness about their plight, and you can join me by participating in the Wild for Life campaign. When we young people make up our minds to make the world a better place, together, we can achieve extraordinary things!

Wang Junkai is a Chinese singer and actor with more than 70 million followers. On his 18th birthday, Wang announced the set-up of his own charity foundation Kindle Blue Fund, which focuses on youth innovation. He has worked to encourage fans to take care of the environment and contribute to charity. He was appointed as UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador in April, 2018.

turtle, rhino, tiger, rosewood, jaguar, sawfish, blue and gold macaw, sunbear, Tibetan antelope, vaquita, snow leopard and lion.

Since its launch, #WildforLife has reached 1.5 billion people and mobilised millions to participate in the process of making commitments and taking action to end the illegal trade in wildlife and forest products.

Most critically, many of the species in the campaign have maintained or received greater protection from CITES and governments, including pangolins, helmeted hornbills, rosewood, elephants, rhinos and snow leopards; and bans on illegal products, including ivory and rhino horn, are being upheld and expanded across the world.

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DIA MIRZA

ildlife today continues to be at greater risk than ever.

Habitat destruction, climate change, illegal trade and many other factors make it harder and harder for wild species to coexistent with humanity. But we know that healthy ecosystems are vital for human wellbeing and sustainable development.

In this light, protecting nature is an existential issue!

This year’s World Wildlife Day is a great opportunity to raise your voice and inspire action to protect our planet’s wildlife. I commit to continue helping create success stories and taking a stand for those who can’t speak for themselves. You have the same power.

Join me in raising awareness, educating one another and enabling change to protect our wildlife.

Dia Mirza has been the face of many pivotal environmental campaigns across India.

As a Goodwill Ambassador, Dia works with the United Nations to further spread the message on priority areas including clean air, clean seas, wildlife protection and climate change.

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Overfishing is a fixable problem.

So let’s fix it — now Byline: Tony Greenway

Our oceans are under threat from overfishing. Better enforcement of regulations is needed, and consumers should only buy fish from sustainable sources.

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he news from our oceans is grim. Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), puts it in context: “A third of fish stocks are overfished globally and, while progress is being made in the Global North, the situation is worsening in the Global South, where most of the world’s seafood is caught. Add to that climate change, ocean acidification and illegal fishing and we have a real crisis on our hands,” he says.

Three-fold increase in overfishing since 1970 Global seafood production has increased five-fold since the 1950s, with an estimated 4.6 million boats now fishing around the planet.

This growing demand for fish has contributed to a three-fold increase in overfishing since 1970. Unsustainable

fishing depletes precious fish stocks, harms ecosystems and ultimately means that our oceans will be less abundant and productive for future generations.

It's not just our oceans that are affected by overfishing. “Fish is a very low-carbon source of protein,” says Howes. “If we decimate fish stocks, we'll have to clear more land for farming, use more intensive agriculture methods and create more carbon emissions to fulfil the global requirement for protein. So, for humanity's sake, it's absolutely critical we manage our oceans sustainably.”

Overfishing is a global issue Addressing the challenge of unsustainable fishing requires global collaboration with global solutions.

Despite the enormity of the

challenge, there are grounds for optimism. 193 nations have signed up to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Framework a route map for humanity to protect the planet, eradicate poverty and deliver prosperity for all. SDG 14, ‘Life below water’ has several ambitious targets including ending overfishing and illegal and destructive fishing practices by 2020.

While this deadline is ambitious, progress has been, and continues to be, made with organisations like the MSC helping to galvanise change.

The time to act is now There are many reasons to be hopeful, says Howes. Fish stocks are incredibly resilient and can bounce back with effective management. He points out that we know exactly what the problem is and what to do about it.

Still, to deliver real, lasting change, the time for talking has to stop, and action has to start. Urgently.

“There isn't one silver bullet to solve this problem,” explains Howes.

“Instead, we need to scale workable solutions. We need governments and, critically, the regional fisheries management organisations to implement and enforce sound fisheries policies and to agree quotas and rules based on scientific advice.

And we need international cooperation to eradicate illegal fishing.”

Choose sustainable fish with the blue tick Howes notes, “it’s not just governments and institutions that

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RUPERT HOWES Chief Executive, MSC (Marine Stewardship Council)

need to act. The market, retail and food service, and critically – consumers – must demand sustainable and traceable seafood choices. The more the supply chain rewards and demands sustainable fishing, the more incentive there is for fisheries to improve their performance.” A recent 2018 survey found that 72% of seafood consumers believe that in order to save the ocean, we must consume seafood only from sustainable sources. This is a powerful message that needs to be heard at a global level.

Certification as a workable solution To that end, credible certification labelling programmes, such as that run by the MSC, are vital.

Independently verified sustainable seafood labels enable well-managed fisheries to demonstrate their activities are sustainable to retailers and, ultimately, consumers. The MSC Fisheries Standard is used to assess if a fishery is well-managed and sustainable; while seafood sold with the blue MSC label means it was caught by a responsible fishery in a sustainable way.

“There's growing evidence that MSC certification incentivises real and lasting change in the way our oceans are fished,” says Howes.

“When major retailers or food service sector companies say to their suppliers: 'We care about the oceans and we're not going to buy your seafood unless you can provide assurances that it's from sustainable and traceable sources,’ that provides

an incredibly powerful incentive for fisheries to improve their performance where needed.”

How you can make sure you don’t support overfishing Seafood consumers have a crucial role to play. “They can look for the blue label to reward fisheries that are fishing sustainably, and so incentivise others to improve,” says Howes. “Without that assurance, consumers could be inadvertently supporting overfishing and practices that damage the ocean environment’’.

With 16% of wild seafood catch certified or in assessment, the MSC is helping the seafood sector to move in a positive direction – one that will help achieve the ambitious SDG goals that governments have set for themselves.

“It’s imperative we put the focus on sustainable fishing. And to be optimistic, with the SDG framework in place, increasing political will, and a global call to action from consumers to retailers, there has never been a better time to fix this fixable problem.”

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AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET With over 10,000 people living within the Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia, Liuwa is a living example of how people and wildlife can co-exist and benefit in a shared landscape.

Each year, Liuwa hosts the second largest wildebeest migration on the continent – without fanfare, this is one of the most glorious spectacles on the planet.

CREDIT: JOHN E. SCANLON FLICKR

Poorly managed tourism has negative impacts on wildlife and the environment. The sheer volume of tourists can pose a serious threat to wildlife.”

Help wildlife survive by getting out and seeing it Well-managed wildlife-based tourism offers economic opportunities that support wildlife. When local people have a stake in it they will be the best protectors of wildlife.

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f you love wildlife, get out and see it; you may also be helping its survival. But never forget: wildlife and the local people living among it must also be respected – by all of us.

The UN World Tourism Organization estimates that 7% of world tourism relates to wildlife tourism, growing annually at about 3%, and much higher in some places, such as in world heritage sites.

The assets that underpin this tourism – the wildlife itself – is under severe threat: poaching for illegal trade, bushmeat and energy; loss of habitat through land-use change, driven by agricultural expansion and resettlement; pollution; the effects of climate change and increasing human-wildlife conflict as human populations grow1.

Losing wildlife means a loss of jobs If we lose the wildlife, we lose the wildlife-based tourism and the jobs that go with it. It’s a lose-lose-lose scenario. It need not be that way.

Poorly managed tourism has negative impacts on wildlife and the environment. The sheer volume of tourists can pose a serious threat to wildlife.

But on a crowded planet of well over seven billion people and growing, we need viable land use options that support wildlife.

Wildlife-based tourism is a critical part of the mix.

Rwandan national park beats poaching through political leadership The Akagera National Park in Rwanda

has seen an inspiring revival in less than a decade due to strong political leadership and good management2.

By securing the area and working with local communities’ wildlife, tourism, local jobs and enterprise are on the rise and poaching has stopped.

Since 2010, visitors to Akagera are up from 12,000 a year to 37,000, half being Rwandan nationals. Full-time employment is up from 18 people to 230 and large mammal numbers are up from 4,000 to over 13,500.

Local people are the best protectors of Akagera’s wildlife. Working with local rangers, their education and development is being supported through conservation. The running costs of the park are now 75% covered by fees earned from park entry fees and tourism.

JOHN E. SCANLON Special Envoy, African Parks

National parks offer employment to local communities Wildlife destinations are often remote from capitals, with limited employment opportunities. This opens up opportunities for tourist operators to invest in local communities in a way that will benefit them, wildlife and their business. That’s a win-winwin scenario.

It takes effort, including helping local people acquire new skills, but it reaps high rewards for communities, economies and wildlife. The remote Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia recently established a high-quality tourism lodge3. The park is now the single largest employer in the region.

Through investment decisions and community engagement, tourism operators can lift local people out of

poverty in a mutually beneficial and self-sustaining way. If they don’t employ locally and all the profits go offshore, they are no better than the poachers and the smugglers.

By doing the right thing, tourism operators are both protecting wildlife and investing in the core natural asset that underpins their own wildlife tourism venture.

The tourism sector is stepping up with various industry associations and organisations pledging their support to join the fight against illegal wildlife trade. But operators can’t do it alone. How we behave as individual tourists is ultimately what counts, and that is our choice.

Read more at globalcause.co.uk

1: UN DESA, June 2017 Press Release Africa’s population is estimated to double by 2050 2: African Parks, Akagera National Park webpage 3: African Parks, Liuwa Plain National Park webpage

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CREDIT: JUAN PABLO MOREIRAS/FFI

The decisive decade for nature Making nature a priority in business decisions is vital to stem growing environmental risks and secure future prosperity for people and the planet.

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his year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting placed the health of nature at the centre of discussions about future economic prosperity. The meeting underscored a sentiment being expressed evermore frequently in leadership circles that our collective future cannot be divorced from nature’s prospects but is intimately tied to it. The raised profile afforded to nature - the damage being done and the need to arrest this damage is a positive but sobering sign.

Making the health of nature a priority Discussions of cliff edges and tipping points are becoming more mainstream, with a growing number of top business leaders talking seriously about the need to address climate change and biodiversity loss as priorities.

The 2019 Global Risks Report, published by the WEF ahead of Davos, identified environmental risks as the group of risks that now most threatens human prosperity.

These risks include biodiversity loss, climate change and the failure to tackle carbon emissions, manmade environmental events (such as MEDIAPLANET

the recent failure of a dam in Brazil that released toxic mining waste into rivers and land) and extreme weather events. This outlook was reinforced by The Institute for Public Policy Research which, in a paper examining emerging risks, said that environmental breakdown was creating “a new domain of risk” that could trigger the “catastrophic breakdown of human systems.”

The role of businesses in finding solutions and reducing risks These are exactly the sort of risks that Fauna & Flora International (FFI) mitigates against with its work.

In Davos, we contributed to a panel discussion that considered the role of business in advancing solutions to these mounting and overlapping risks. A handful of key themes emerged, drawn from our experience of working with corporate partners.

Some of these themes include the need to create and enforce regulation that rewards business activities that are positive for nature and penalises detrimental behaviour, the importance of fighting the corruption that can undermine efforts to protect nature, enforcing

standards for new infrastructure to minimise habitat disruption, as well as improved quantification of risks and opportunities.

Turning the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal targets into practical business strategies was seen as a key driver for avoiding cascading risks along with strong environmental leadership at CEO level required. In addition, technological innovation is required to decouple growth from naturedependency.

Strong actions required to achieve reduction targets The questions raised by leaders at Davos this year also indicated a growing engagement with the links between climate change and biodiversity loss. Stronger action to prevent further destruction of nature, notably in tropical forests and oceans, is critical if countries are to achieve the emissions reduction targets. These targets are required to keep global warming to under 2 degrees (let alone the 1.5 degrees the latest United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report recommends). One good example is the need to ensure

JOANNA ELLIOTT Senior Director, Conservation Partnerships, Fauna & Flora International

zero deforestation supply chains.

Nature-based solutions are also increasingly recognised as a vital component in adaptation, with prevention of loss (such as protecting mangroves and watersheds), a far cheaper and more effective option than restoration or man-made solutions. It was understood that if these environmental risks are not addressed, the potential for social unrest and conflict will increase.

The need for younger voices in the conversation Young people were notably absent from the Davos discussions.

However, Greta Thunberg, the 16 year-old catalyst for the climate change school strikes movement which is snowballing across Europe, spoke eloquently about the failures of climate policy and the need to rapidly change course.

‘New Deal for Nature’ Discussions at Davos confirmed the urgent need to bring government partners on board to align national policy frameworks to these solidifying global ambitions. 2020 will be a mega-year for global environmental policy review with

the 75th UN General Assembly.

This will be followed by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Beijing where biodiversity targets for the next 10 years will be agreed. Conservation groups and the World Economic Forum have advanced the concept of a ‘New Deal for Nature’ that would protect and restore nature, with suggested targets to 2030 and beyond. We will be working with governments and a range of partners to push this agenda forwards, offering our expertise on how to deliver practical, real-world solutions that protect nature and enhance biodiversity.

Human health, well-being and continued economic development depends on functioning ecosystems and sustaining nature. We cannot afford to fail.

Sponsored by

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AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET CREDIT: ABADONIAN

Climate change: can wildlife adapt in time?

PROF WENDY FODEN Chair, IUCN Species Survival Commission Climate Change Specialist Group

A decade ago, scientists referred to the species impacted by climate change as canaries in coal mines. Today, they are commonplace, spanning every ecosystem on earth.

T Tackling human-elephant conflict in Africa DR WINNIE KIIRU Technical Advisor, Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI)

Elephants don’t always make good neighbours. Just ask a distraught farmer in my country, Kenya, after he has woken to find his crop of bananas or maize has been flattened during a nocturnal rampage.

Or, worse, after a beloved child has been injured or even killed, trying to ward the mighty animals away from the fields.

he impacts of climate change are vast. Ranging from dramatic coral reef loss and mass bat die-offs in heat-waves, to the slow decline of butterfly populations as old breeding grounds become unsuitable.

Migrating birds follow outof-synch cues, red foxes move northwards to prey on arctic foxes and turtle clutches hatch with too few males due to temperature increases. The growing list of often unexpected climate change impacts has become the new normal, presenting the world with an enormous new challenge.

How do we protect wildlife?

Healthy, abundant populations cope better with climate change

stresses, so minimising other threats is imperative. Creating and protecting large natural spaces for wildlife provides climatic refuges, opportunities for populations to thrive and pathways for species to track shifting climates. In extreme situations, conservationists can use intensive management like providing shelter, water points, or even moving species to assist.

But, overall, there is a limit to the extent to which wildlife can adapt and conservationists can help. Our most valuable action is to slow down the rate of climate change.

Hidden risks from solutions Alternatives to fossil fuels underpin wildlife’s survival. These energy alternatives increasingly include

biofuels. But fertile land is far from infinite, and so biofuels, nature, and food production now compete for space. We have not reached it yet, but there is a point at which the cost to wildlife from habitat loss will outweigh the benefits from reduced warming. Focusing on solutions beyond biofuels is critical.

Together, oceans and plants take up more than half of the carbon dioxide humans emit each year.

Protecting wildlife is protecting ourselves.

Read more at globalcause.co.uk

CREDIT: VANCOUVER ISLAND MARMOT / OLI GARDNER

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uman-elephant conflict, (or HEC), is now a big issue in Africa. In 2000, the continent was home to some 0.82 billion people. By 2050, according to the UN, this number will have increased to 2.53 billion. People encroach into what was undisturbed elephant habitat. Migratory routes are cut, national parks hemmed in by farmland.

Locals will not help end poaching while elephants destroy villages The truth is stark; if we are to defeat the ivory poachers, we need solutions to HEC. If rural communities are hostile to elephants, they are not going to help governments stop poachers. They’re more likely to turn a blind eye, or possibly become involved themselves in illegal activity.

The race is on to find solutions. Electric fences, bee hives and chili plants have all been used to deter elephants, with varying degrees of success. What we’ve discovered in Kenya is that giving rural populations a vested interest in wildlife preservation mitigates the resentment caused by destructive elephants.

Communities that receive employment and revenue from wildlifewatching tourism and infrastructure are more likely to have positive attitudes towards conservation.

Encouraging locals to protect elephants through sustainable wildlife tourism Outsiders, often from countries that eliminated their own dangerous animals hundreds of years ago, need to bear our realities in mind. We Africans treasure our wildlife and our bio-diversity.

We wish to reverse the destruction and protect our wildlife for future generations. But the economic realities of our peoples who live alongside the world’s most dramatic but dangerous wildlife, must be respected and considered.

Read more at globalcause.co.uk

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Escalating Conservation Translocations Yield Hope for Nature DR AXEL MOEHRENSCHLAGER Chair, IUCN Species Survival Commission Conservation Translocation Specialist Group

What connects the Arabian Oryx, California condor, and Kihansi spray toad?

Like many others, they would be extinct without conservation translocations.

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ith the human population growing from three to nine billion from 1960 to 2040, threats like habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change urgently need long-term solutions.

But can we also avert imminent species extinctions? Yes, we often can.

For example, conservation translocations using wild populations or those propagated under human care, yield releases where species need them most. The Mauritius kestrel was extinct in the

wild and successfully reintroduced.

Canada’s Vancouver Island Marmot seemed doomed, but reinforcements now increased populations eightfold. Tortoise releases in the Indian Ocean and Caribbean have restored ecological functions lost with endemic species extinction. Torreya conifers in the USA have even been moved beyond their range to mitigate climate change.

Collectively, thousands of species ranging from corals to rhinos have been moved and such programmes are increasing. Why? Because

those applying sound science and international guidelines often yield tremendous outcomes.

So, is there hope? Absolutely! I believe we can save any species if we truly want to. Let us escalate the social, political, and financial will to do so – we owe it to nature… and to ourselves.

Read more at globalcause.co.uk MEDIAPLANET

CREDIT: LILONGWE WILDLIFE TRUST

Fighting illegal wildlife trade: what next for Malawi?

In 2016, CITES (the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species) identified Malawi as a ‘country of primary concern’ and Southern Africa’s principle transit hub for ivory trafficking1.

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alawi’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Review , published a year earlier, had come to similar conclusions, uncovering evidence of large-scale international trafficking of bushmeat, carnivore pelts, tortoises, pangolins, orchids, ivory and rhino horn. The Review served a wake-up call for urgent action to protect not just our own wildlife but also wild populations in the Southern Africa region as a whole.

New interventions result in 1.5 tonnes of illegal ivory confiscated Recommendations from the report were swiftly executed. As a result, in just four years, over 1.5 tonnes of ivory were confiscated, average monthly arrests for wildlife crime jumped from 0.7 to 9.5, and custodial sentence rates rose to over 90%, with judgments passed of up to 18 years. Consider, in comparison, that no-one convicted of a wildlife crime between 2010 and 2015 had been put behind bars and the average fine was just $403.

Moving beyond traditional wildlife conservation to incorporate practices used in combatting

serious organised crime practices and combined with a collaborative, innovative and holistic approach have been critical.

Aside from improved protected area management, initiatives have included the launch of the country’s first wildlife crime investigations unit, critical amendments to wildlife legislation and pioneering justice programmes such as publicprivate prosecutions.

Organised, international crime units exploit and corrupt Poaching is, of course, a critical link in the chain, and local poachers can still expect to feel the full weight of the Malawian law bringing a trafficker to justice is proving an effective use of our limited resources. After all, it is members of organised international crime syndicates that ultimately exploit local communities, incite corruption, threaten our national security and provide the routes to overseas markets.

Given the resources required, and the fact that wildlife criminals do not respect governance divisions or national borders, inter-agency and transnational co-operation as well as funding and technical expertise from

...in just four years, over 1.5 tonnes of ivory were confiscated, average monthly arrests for wildlife crime jumped from 0.7 to 9.5, and custodial sentence rates rose to over 90% with judgements passed of up to 18 years.”

local and international partners have all been vital.

The diplomatic community have also stepped up, with Ambassadors and High Commissioners recently joining His Excellency, President Peter Mutharika, in a national campaign film, currently shown in Malawi’s airports, to remind foreign nationals of Malawi’s laws on the trade or possession of illegal wildlife products.

Wildlife Bill increases sentences to 30 years The Wildlife Act Amendment Bill was passed in Parliament in record time, increasing maximum sentences to 30 years and making it one of the strongest pieces of wildlife legislation in the region. This robust response was in large part thanks to sensitisation

HON ALEX MAJOR MP Kasungu West and co-chair, Malawi Parliamentary Conservation Caucus

through the Malawi Parliamentary Conservation Caucus, a group which includes representation from all parties and which His Excellency, the President, is a patron.

Strong political momentum has reflected a growing understanding within society that wildlife crime represents a serious threat to our natural heritage. It is encouraging that attitudes are shifting not just within high-level decision-making circles, but also within local communities that are playing a vital role in enforcement activities on the ground.

216 new species placed under protection in 2018 Now attention is being turned to the protection of our wider biodiversity.

Last year, a further 216 species of animals, plants and trees were placed under legal protection, and we plan to apply our learnings to other illegal or unsustainable practices such as trades in timber, charcoal and fish.

Strengthened legislation and enforcement is a critical deterrent, but education is also key. People protect what they value and understand. That is why we must put institutional, attitudinal and behavioural change at the centre of any future solutions,

applying good conservation governance across all sectors and connecting people to nature in their everyday lives.

Conservation is critical to Malawi’s economy The value of conservation is obvious when it comes to tourism, which is flourishing thanks, in large part, to the return of the ‘Big Five’ to our national parks. Our ecological infrastructure is essential for our economic prosperity, given its vital role in issues such as food security, disaster resilience, and human health.

Malawi is blessed with rich biodiversity but our plight reflects that of many countries around the world: that we ultimately cannot survive if losses continue along the current trajectory. However, I am most hopeful that applying the same high-level political will and pioneering collaborative approach I have highlighted here can also lead to the protection of our wider natural heritage both within Malawi and beyond.

Read more at globalcause.co.uk

1: cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/17/WorkingDocs/E-CoP17-57-06-R1.pdf 2: www.wildlife.gov.mw/resources/ 3: lilongwewildlife.org/IWTLondon2018

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