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Prince William spoke of the "heartbreaking" idea that when his children are in their twenties, elephants, rhinos and tigers may be extinct in the wild.
In a keynote speech delivered at a major wildlife trade conference in London on Thursday, the 36-year-old royal father said: "Personally, I am not prepared to look at my children in the eyes and to say that the generation that let this happen under our watch. It is time to consider the illegal wildlife trade as a serious organized crime. "
"It is heartbreaking to think that by the time my kids George, Charlotte and Louis turn 20, elephants, rhinos and tigers may be extinct in the wild," he said. declared.
"I think it's my duty and our collective responsibility to leave our planet in a stronger position for our children."
He delivered his speech at the Fourth Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, supported by his consortium United for Wildlife. "Organized criminal networks increase their profits by participating in wildlife crime," he said. "They see it as a lucrative and relatively low-risk business. These are the same groups that carry drugs, people and weapons. "
And he noted that during his recent tour to Africa: "I saw [rhinos] under such a threat that they have more bodyguards than me! Would not it be better if the demand for rhinoceros horn dropped to the point that they did not need anyone to protect them? "
During his visit to some of the exhibitions at the Wildlife Trade Illegal Trade Conference, William met with representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
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Miwa Kato, director of operations at UNODC, praised him for establishing a link with trafficking and organized crime. She told people, "This is a new kind of leader. He is not only passionate and emotional about it, he also talks about economic aspects. We do not have that clearly from many other leaders. He did not talk about script but spoke with passion and long-term vision. This problem requires a new generation of leaders who can talk to people and come up with solutions. "
Prince William during his recent visit to Africa to fight wildlife crime.
Kensington Palace Twitter
William also heard the powerful story of how a ranger was transformed from poaching guardian into the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan. He met 30-year-old Jampel Lhendup, explaining how he had poached his father Therchung, 60, aged 5 to 9, to feed their family. But when they killed a deer and his mother, it was a turning point. "It was the affection they had felt for each other. We first killed the lion cub and when we took him to work, when his mother followed him, we also killed him, "he said.
Seeing the blood in the mother's eyes has had an impact, he adds. "It changed my father's mind and he sent me to school to become a ranger. I explained the affection of the mother for the little one [William] seemed moved when I told him my story.
The illegal wildlife trade (TNI) is an organized crime whose estimated value is $ 23 billion a year.
