The upcoming Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD COP) in Cali is a major opportunity to make global progress on protecting nature. But as with all high-level international fora, the CBD COP has its fair share of complexity.

This webinar aims to help civil society organisations better understand how the CBD COP works, and provide advice on how to make the most of their participation in this key global summit.

Participants will hear insights from two experts with extensive experience in engaging with the CBD process, and will have the chance to ask questions and share ideas.

Speakers

• Dr Susan Lieberman, Vice President, International Policy, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS): Sue Lieberman has worked in international biodiversity conservation, at the intersection of science and policy, for almost 30 years, including extensive experience with international wildlife trade, wildlife trafficking, and intergovernmental policy.
• Dr Charles (Chip) Barber, Director, Natural Resources Governance and Policy, World Resources Institute: Chip Barber oversees the Nature Crime Alliance and Forest Governance and Policy teams at WRI, and serves as the Institute’s senior biodiversity advisor. He has participated the CBD process since 1989.

The webinar takes place on Zoom on Thursday 9 October, 9:30am ET / 2:30pm UK time / 3:30pm CET.

REGISTER HERE

The third edition of the ‘Meet the Nature Crime Alliance’ webinar series takes place on Thursday 3 October, covering issues across wildlife crime, timber traceability, and the global landscape of criminalisation for environmental offences.

This edition will include two presentations from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on their recent pertinent research publications.

Katalin Kecse-Nagy, Wildlife Crime Research Officer, UNODC, will share highlights from the 2024 World Wildlife Crime Report. Produced by UNODC, the report presents characteristics of the illegal wildlife trade, the harms caused by – and the drivers of – wildlife crime, and approaches that have worked to stop these crimes.

Tanya Wyatt, Lead Researcher, Crimes that Affect the Environment, UNODC, will unpack highlights from the Landscape of Criminalization report, which analyzes the state of criminalization of violations of environmental offences across nine environmental areas – deforestation and logging, mining, fishing, air, noise, soil, and water pollution, waste and wildlife. The analysis also includes the penalties for violations and whether this meets the definition of serious crime set out in the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of at least four years in prison.

Jade Saunders, Executive Director of World Forest ID, will share updates on the organisation’s science-based traceability efforts, aimed at increasing transparency in forest-connected supply chains. By identifying the true origin of samples, World Forest ID’s origin models have directly supported law enforcement in tackling the trade of deforestation-linked commodities, contributing to recent enforcement cases and attracting global media attention.

The webinar takes place on Zoom on Thursday 3 October, 9am ET / 2pm UK time / 3pm CET.

Register for the webinar at this link. 

View previous webinars in the series:

• Meet the Nature Crime Alliance #1
• Meet the Nature Crime Alliance #2

The Nature Crime Alliance is pleased to welcome the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust as its latest member.

The Trust plays a vital role in disrupting the illegal wildlife and forest trade in Malawi, and delivers internationally renowned wildlife rescue services. It also supports conservation justice, running a court monitoring programme and developing specialist tools for magistrates, judges, prosecutors, and investigators.

By joining the Alliance, the Trust will be supported in developing new cross-sector partnerships with which to address specific challenges in Malawi and beyond. In turn, the Trust brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will support other Alliance members in their efforts to fight nature crime. The government of Malawi joined the Alliance in February this year.

Jonathan Vaughan MBE, Chief Executive of Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, commented: “There is a need to mobilise multiple sectors around the challenges of nature crime, especially as these crimes often share the same networks and value chains. The Nature Crime Alliance offers the chance to build the collaborative response required, and to raise the profile of these crimes and the challenges they present.”

With Malawi facing a range of environmental and security threats including illegal logging, mining, wildlife trafficking and fisheries crime in Lake Malawi, the Trust will engage with Alliance members to find solutions aimed at ending these activities.

Dr Charles Barber, Director of the Nature Crime Alliance, said: “The strong membership interest we’ve seen since launching the Alliance shows there is a real demand for multi-sector cooperation in fighting nature crime. We’re excited that Lilongwe Wildlife Trust is joining these efforts, and we look forward to working with them and other members to develop and scale solutions that protect Malawi’s natural resources and biodiversity.”