Alliance Secretariat supports government briefing on wildlife crime 

The critical role of civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and journalism in supporting law enforcement efforts to counter wildlife crime was highlighted during a briefing of government representatives in New York this week.

Ruth Nogueron, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute, represented the Nature Crime Alliance in the meeting, ‘From Policy to Practice – Bridging Multilateral Action with Ground-Level Impact in the Fight Against Illicit Wildlife Trafficking’, convened by the Group of Friends on Combatting Illicit Wildlife Trafficking.

Co-chaired by Germany and Gabon, with coordination by Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), the session brought together wildlife crime experts to share insights with policymakers focusing on this issue at the UN.

In her briefing, Nogueron highlighted how local communities are invaluable in the gathering of field intelligence, and emphasized how wildlife crime is interlinked with other crimes, requiring engagement with financial intelligence units (FIUs) and prosecution authorities. She also shared a case study demonstrating the value of investigative journalism in tackling these crimes.

Ruth’s recommendations to delegates included:

• Empowering Indigenous People and local communities as key contributors to field intelligence. The Nature Crime Alliance is working with Indigenous Peoples’ Rights International (IPRI) on this issue.
• Utlilising civil society organisations to help bridge gaps between communities, enforcement, and policy professionals.
• Enhancing cross-sector crime convergence approaches.
• Strengthen investigative journalism to expose trafficking networks.
• Addressing the critical yet overlooked role of wildlife rescue centers.

Other Nature Crime Alliance participants in the briefing included Ghislain Ondias Okouma, Permanent Representative of Gabon to the UN; Olivia Swaak-Goldman, Executive Director, WJC (which organised the meeting in partnership with the German government); and John Scanlon, Chair, Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime. INTERPOL was also represented, with Operation Thunder – the major law enforcement success against international wildlife crime, which saw coordination across 138 countries and regions – being cited.