Illegal wildlife trade threatens national security, says WWF
report Besides driving many endangered species towards
extinction, illegal wildlife trade strengthens criminal
networks, undermines national security, and poses increasing
risks to global health, according to the report, Fighting
illicit wildlife trafficking: A consultation with governments,
which will be unveiled today at a briefing for United Nations
ambassadors in New York. “Wildlife crime has escalated
alarmingly in the past decade. It is driven by global crime
syndicates, and so we need a concentrated global response,” says
Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International. “It is
communities, often the world’s poorest, that lose the most from
this illicit trade, while criminal gangs and corrupt officials
profit. Frontline rangers are losing their lives and families
that depend on natural resources are losing their livelihoods,”
he said. Much of the trade in illegal wildlife products is run
by sophisticated criminal networks with broad internati