Environmental crime growing at alarming rate

Rawalpindi

In addition to other threats, man-made and natural, such as climate change, habitat loss, collisions with vehicles, power lines and wind turbines, wildlife faces another totally avoidable danger: illegal wildlife trade.

The booming illegal trade in wildlife products is eroding earth’s precious biodiversity, robbing us of our natural heritage and driving whole species to the brink of extinction. The killing and smuggling is also undermining economies and ecosystems, fueling organised crime, and feeding corruption and insecurity across the globe. Eco-crime hits record high at up to $258 billion, outstripping the illegal trade in small arms, as international criminal gangs and militant groups profit from the plunder of Earth’s resources.

Environmental crime is the world’s fourth largest criminal enterprise after drug smuggling, counterfeiting and human trafficking. The value of environmental crime is 26 per cent larger than previous estimates. Wildlife crime endangers iconic species including elephants, rhinos, tigers, gorillas and sea turtles along with a number of species of flowers and timbers that are also considered as wildlife.

Head of Community Medicine at CMH Lahore Medical College Professor Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry expressed this while talking to ‘The News’ in connection with World Environment Day observed on Sunday around the globe.

He said with 5th June designated as World Environment Day, the UN is highlighting the dangers illegal wildlife trade has for our wellbeing. This year’s theme for WED — Go Wild for Life — encourages people to celebrate all those species under threat and take action at their own to help safeguard them for future generations. This can be about animals or plants that are threatened within your local area as well as at the national or global level-many local extinctions will eventually add up to a global extinction! Show zero tolerance for the illegal trade in wildlife in word and deed, and make a difference.

He added studies reveal that more than one quarter of the world elephant population has been killed in a decade. Some of the world’s most vulnerable wildlife, like rhinos and elephants, are being killed at a rate that has grown by more than 25 per cent every year in the last decade.

He said Pakistan has seen a massive increase in the scale of illegal wildlife trade over the past few years, which can be gauged from the fact that the country reported seizures of 5,717 turtles in last year alone. An online wildlife market also exists in Pakistan and the scale of e-crime is also on the rise, said Dr. Ashraf.

He said the situation is the result of multiple factors that include weak laws and poorly funded security forces, ineffective implementation of legislation, serious funding constraints and capacity gaps provincial wildlife departments have been facing for a long time. Moreover, there is no coordination between the federal and the provincial departments, he explained.

He believes that the illegal wildlife trade not only causing huge loss of revenue to national exchequer but also disturbing the ecosystem in the country leading to climate change, various deadly diseases and socio-economic problems.

He added that the huge amount of money generated from these crimes keeps sophisticated international criminal gangs in business and fuel insecurity around the world. The result is not only devastating to the environment and local economies, but to all those who are menaced by these criminal enterprises, he said.

He said the wildlife trade involves both flora and fauna and Pakistan has huge asset of medicinal plants and it seems as the government lacks a mechanism to protect indigenous plants. The complexity of this type of criminality requires multi-sector response underpinned by collaboration across borders, said Dr. Ashraf.

Huge efforts including stronger policies, awareness campaigns and investments in community conservation and law enforcement are needed to counter the illicit wildlife trade that has been recognised as an organised crime by the United Nations, he said.

He said enhanced capacity of Pakistan customs officials and other departments on various aspects of illegal wildlife trade would be an important step to ensure improved surveillance of wildlife traffickers.

The law enforcement agencies should take help from new technologies as wildlife traffickers are adopting new strategies to transport wildlife. Public awareness through mass media and community involvement are also important in addressing the challenge. Strong legislation is a must to control the illegal wildlife trade, said Dr. Ashraf.