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Massive wildlife trafficking is impoverishing all the peoples of the world and must be treated with the same severity as drug trafficking and people, according to the leaders of 80 countries gathered at the illegal trade conference. Wildlife in London.
"Illegal wildlife crime makes us all poorer, not just countries deprived of their wildlife, their natural habitat and their resources, but also of all those who are not faithful to our natural heritage, to the rich. diversity of our living world, "said Theresa May, UK. Prime Minister, Thursday. "We must deal with this billion-dollar criminal enterprise in the same way that we treat other serious and organized crimes."
Other challenges raised by leaders included the tension between rapidly growing human populations and wildlife, the need to lift and enforce penalties for wildlife crime and the danger to stability. countries where international criminal gangs operate.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon, said: "The illegal international wildlife trade is not just a matter of wildlife, it is an issue that cripples economies, poisons and degrades people. ecosystems, corrupts our judicial systems, weakens our rule of law and ruins lives.
"The criminals who slaughter our magnificent elephants, lions and tigers, who empty our oceans and forests, sometimes even use their ill-gotten gains to finance rebels and terrorist groups. This is a crucial issue for Africa and one that we, the international community, have not taken seriously enough so far. We can not do it alone, so stay with us.
A series of initiatives were announced at the conference, including a working group on wildlife financial management, bringing together more than 20 global banks that will tackle money laundering to trap Wildlife criminals, and the Ivory Alliance 2024, which aims to force 30 more countries to ban the sale of ivory at this time. The British government is also extending the training provided by its army to the rangers of African countries.
Yoweri Museveni, president of Uganda, said his country's population is expected to grow from 40 to 102 million by 2050 and would increasingly conflict with wildlife if the country's citizens remain essentially farmers. "To support conservation, you must also talk about modernization [of the economy], "He said," in this case, it will be easier to manage conservation. "
He also cautioned against threats to states: "The illegal wildlife trade continues to erode the authority of the state, fueling civil conflict and, in so doing, threaten national stability. "
Jeremy Hunt, British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, told the conference: "Our task is to take up one of the greatest challenges facing humanity." He pointed out that the world population had increased five-fold during the last century: in decline. He said that 60% of vertebrate animals had perished in the last 50 years and that humans now outnumbered wild animals.
"The interests of humanity can not be dissociated from the interests of wildlife. One depends on the other, "he said. "If we do not act, we simply will never be forgiven."
The Duke of Cambridge, who convened the Wildlife Financial Taskforce, also addressed the conference and said, "My call to protect this delicate balance between the growth of human populations and the decline of endangered wildlife species. extinction is not purely emotional. This has an economic meaning. Poaching is an economic crime against citizens and their future.
"It's heartbreaking to think that by the time my kids, George, Charlotte and Louis, are 20 years old, elephants, rhinos and tigers may well be extinct in the wild. For my part, I do not want to look my children in the eye and say that we are the generation that let this happen under our watch. "
Wildlife trafficking, including ivory, rhinoceros horns, pangolins and turtles, is estimated at $ 23 billion a year, making it the fourth most profitable criminal enterprise after drug trafficking, firearms and people. Shallow sentences and weak law enforcement have made it a lucrative and low-risk activity for criminal syndicates.
But the sentences are growing in strength; Bongo said that the prison sentence for ivory trafficking went from six months to 10 years, double if it was related to organized crime. In Vietnam, where much of the smuggled rhinoceros horn ended, the penalties were raised to 15 years, while in Kenya, anyone caught committing the crime of trafficking the parts of the body of species in danger of extinction now risk life imprisonment.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions told delegates that his country's president, Donald Trump, was in favor of tough action against wildlife criminals: "We can not allow the illegal extermination of wildlife. entire populations of species. On the contrary, we must use our divine resources and our legal institutions to advance and defend the survival – not the annihilation – of the majestic creatures of God. He said the United States would commit an additional $ 90 million to combat wildlife trafficking.
According to Hunt, when action is taken, progress can be made: "When laws are enforced and smugglers are prosecuted, wildlife populations can and must recover. The number of wild tigers in Nepal, for example, has doubled in the last nine years. "
