Wildlife crime is not only threatening iconic species such as elephants and rhinos. But marine turtles are also a group of species under threat from criminals. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPS

By Bradnee Chambers
QUITO, Ecuador, Nov 8 2014 (IPS)

A surge in wildlife crime is fuelling criminal syndicates, perpetuating terrorism, and resulting in the loss of major revenues from tourism and industries dependent on iconic species while also endangering the livelihoods of the rural poor.

But this surge in wildlife crime is not only threatening iconic species, which include elephants, rhinos and tigers, but also lesser-known animals that are also on the brink of extinction.

Wildlife crime is estimated to be worth between seven and 23 billion dollars per year and is growing at a pace never seen in recent memory.

A great deal of attention has rightly been focused on the illegal trade of ivory from elephants and rhino horns, which has spiked out of control and is devastating these animals’ populations.

South Africa’s white rhinoceros recovered from near-extinction thanks to intense conservation efforts. Credit: Kanya D’Almeida/IPS

But what the public does not know is that crime is not just limited to these species — it is also affecting many others, driving some to the brink of extinction and is depleting a wide range of economically important natural resources.

Illegal trapping results in millions of birds being indiscriminately taken every migration to supply the voracious appetite in restaurants that offer local song-bird delicacies.

The illegal charcoal trade is having a major impact on the fragile ecosystems in East Africa and threatening the habitats of birds and terrestrial mammals that depend on these ecosystems for their survival.

The scale of habitat loss is alarming and it is emerging that Al Shabaab, the Somali terrorist group responsible for the West Gate Mall attack in Nairobi in 2013, is financing its activities with proceeds of illegal charcoal sales.

Illegal fishing is the second-largest type of environmental crime, accounting for between 11 and 30 billion dollars a year. It is increasingly becoming a widespread global phenomenon that requires sustained law enforcement, stricter regulation and improved public awareness of the impacts.

The criminal activities also include illegal shark finning, which feeds crime syndicates selling the fins to markets in East Asia. Shark populations have been decimated because of the demand for the animals’ fins and oil. Estimates have shown that fins of between 26 and  73 million sharks are being traded each year, a number which is three to four times higher than overall reported shark catches worldwide.

Marine turtles are another group of species under threat from criminals. Poaching of green and hawksbill turtles, which are endangered, is still widespread in the Coral Triangle of South East Asia and in the Western Pacific Ocean. Poachers use both the shell of the turtle for raw materials for luxury goods and souvenirs, and their meat and eggs — which are considered a rare delicacy.

In Central Asia the Snow Leopard, which is highly-endangered, is still poached for its fur pelt while its primary prey, the Argali mountain goat, is also poached for its horn. As a result there is double impact on the populations of Snow Leopard to the point where there are fewer than 2,500 left in the wild.

The live capture of cheetahs remains a major threat to their already endangered populations. Sought after as pets for the rich and wealthy, many cheetahs are captured and smuggled to private collectors throughout the world. Only one in six cheetahs survives this illegal trafficking.

These are but a few examples of the other species under threat and that demonstrate the magnitude of worldwide wildlife crime.

Quito, Ecuador is hosting a major conference for more than 120 states under the Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), which will address these and other dimensions of wildlife crime that are not as readily understood globally.

Before the conference is a resolution proposed by Monaco and Ghana that is meant to broaden the fight against wildlife crime.

The resolution is also meant to bring into the spotlight other species of wildlife under threat as well as the increasing number of types of crime. These include some that take place inside countries such as markets for bushmeat and charcoal, and open bazaars that fuel the unsustainable demand for endangered species.

CMS is a convention which requires countries to either put in place conservation strategies to sustainably manage the populations or in the case of endangered species ensure there is no taking.

In this way, the Convention can be a very powerful vehicle for beefing up enforcement, increasing pressure for stronger legislation and working directly in countries to combat wildlife crime.

If adopted, the resolution will unleash the potential of this important convention to start to place international pressure on countries to address all dimensions of wildlife crime both within these countries and internationally where there animals move.

Edited by: Nalisha Adams

Excerpt:

Malaysian conservationists are urging a ban on the trade of endangered marine turtles’ eggs. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPS

By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 14 2012 (IPS)

Age-old customs and traditions that allow licenced traders to collect and sell marine turtle eggs to locals and tourists alike are driving the creatures to extinction, Malaysian conservationists charge.

Citing the extinction of the leatherback and Olive Ridley sea turtles, which in the 1960s nested on beaches here by the thousands but today have all but disappeared, environmentalists have now called for a ban on the collection, sale and consumption of turtle eggs.

Others highlighted the precipitous decline in the number of nesting hawksbill turtles, a critically endangered species, and called attention to the disappearance of green sea turtles, in an effort to urge authorities to take strict action.

The authorities, meanwhile, are caught between determined traders and the widespread belief that turtle eggs cure asthma and promote male virility.

In Kuala Terengganu, the east coast capital of Terengganu state, popularly known as the country’s ‘turtle town’, traders are vehemently defending their livelihoods.

“There is a market for (the eggs), so we sell them. It is not illegal either except for leatherback turtle eggs,” said Abang Dok, who pays a mere five-ringgit (1.5-dollar) annual fee to collect and sell turtle eggs.

Traders have been selling turtle eggs for decades and argue that the eggs have not run out.

“As long as we eat only the eggs and not the turtle, the species will continue to come and nest…I see no reason why the turtle will not survive,” said Dok, who earns 25 ringgits (roughly 7.8 dollars) for every 10 turtle eggs sold.

When told that several species have become extinct and no longer nest on the beaches due to human activity, another trader calling himself Ismail Wok said that other species would soon “replace” the disappearing ones.

“It is a big ocean and the turtles come and go as they please…we should not be blamed if they don’t come anymore. Maybe they like other beaches,” he said.

“It is a question of our livelihood…our survival,” he said.

Though conservationists are fighting hard to educate local communities and tourists, the state government allows the practice under the pretext that livelihoods are at stake – but recent studies show otherwise.

A 2010 study of a village in Terengganu, which faces the South China Sea, conducted by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that only a few villagers actually rely on the trade for their monthly income.

Roughly 200 villagers are licenced to collect eggs but some of these traders are inactive or have sold their licences to others.

“The question of livelihood is irrelevant because turtle eggs are also imported from elsewhere for sale in Terengganu,” Rahayu Zulkifli, head of the WWF’s Terengganu Turtle Conservation Programme, told IPS.

Still, illegal collection and sale of eggs is rampant. Collectors earn up to 200 ringgits a month but traders can earn as much as 2,000 ringgits monthly through sales to tourists.

Turtle conservationists and other concerned members of the public are up against the age-old belief that turtle eggs cure asthma despite the fact that numerous medical experts have refuted the claim.

Numerous people also believe that turtle eggs, if eaten twice daily, enhance male virility.

Zulkifli, who is working round the clock to save turtles from extinction, has urged tourists who visit Terengganu not to buy turtle eggs and respect the ban that locals are pushing for. She believes if there is no market for the eggs, then traders will be forced to stop collecting them.

Terengganu state, which ironically exploits the turtle population to attract international tourism, is also a football-crazy region, where football stars have a huge public impact. The WWF has successfully tapped into their popularity for the conservation effort.

“They (the footballers) are our partners…we have to create greater awareness among villagers, officials, state authorities and tourists,” Zulkifli said at the launch of the first ever World Sea Turtle Day celebration last week.

The campaign theme, ‘Telur penyu, beli jangan, makan pun tidak’ (‘Don’t buy or eat turtle eggs’) was promoted among the 1,000 attendees, who joined together with famous footballers to urge the public to respect and protect the turtle population by leaving the eggs alone.

While the leatherback and Olive Ridley species are nearly extinct, green turtles still nest on a 20-kilometre stretch of beach at Rantau Abang, averaging about 2,000-2,500 nests a year.

Weak legislation

Turtle species are also threatened by the destruction of their feeding and nesting grounds, turtle-snaring fishing gear, pollution and illegal trapping by foreign fishing vessels.

Other hurdles to conservation include inadequate national laws – currently turtle protection falls under the jurisdiction of the country’s 13 individual states, some of which have no laws concerning turtle conservation.

Turtles are excluded from the purview of the recently enhanced Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, while the 1985 Fisheries Act only protects turtles found more than three nautical miles offshore.

WWF Director, Dr. Dionysius Sharma, has been pressing for holistic federal legislation that would streamline all state legislation into one special law for turtle conservation.

“The current laws are not conservation-oriented,” he told IPS. “They don’t ban egg consumption but focus (solely) on licencing egg collection. There is little emphasis on habitat protection and penalties for offences are minimal.”

In most states, the fine for killing a turtle is a paltry 100 ringgits.

Sharma stressed that if turtles are to survive, their nesting habits and offspring must be protected and licenced trade must be banned immediately. The prevailing attitudes of authorities and many local actors have remained unchanged since colonial times – but with an endangered species at stake, they will be forced to seriously rethink their customs.

“As long as we eat the eggs, we’ll create an imbalance and cause the decline of the species. There will be no juveniles to grow into mothers,” Sharma warned.

(END)