ILP bolsters Alliance’s work to broaden legal support for frontline defenders

A key aim of the Nature Crime Alliance is to bolster capacity for frontline defenders, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities, who often have limited access to costly legal representation. To help develop solutions to this challenge, the Alliance has welcomed the International Lawyers Project (ILP), as its latest member.

Based in London but supporting communities around the world, ILP advances economic and environmental justice and the rule of law through the provision of pro bono legal expertise to civil society, communities, and governments. Its vision is a sustainable world in which law serves as a tool for those who need it the most.

As part of its membership in the Alliance, ILP will draw on its extensive expertise utilising different legal tools and remedies to tackle environmental crimes, for example, advising on the use of sanctions for wildlife trafficking organised crime groups or conducting legal reviews of regulatory frameworks to ensure prevention and detection of environmental crimes. The Alliance platform will also help serve as a ‘dot connector’ between ILP’s pro bono services and those who need them.

Lucy Claridge, ILP’s Executive Director, said “We are acutely aware of the increasing convergence of corruption and environmental degradation. Corrupt actors exploit ineffective fiscal policies and weak environmental laws, providing fertile ground for illicit activities to flourish, resulting in environmental harm that disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable communities, particularly in the Global South. Legal tools and remedies are increasingly effective in holding responsible parties accountable for environmental crimes and empowering communities to seek better governance of natural resources”.

In addition to ILP’s contribution to solutions developed by the Alliance, the organisation will also form part of a legal resources database being developed by the Alliance Secretariat. This resource will help civil society, Indigenous Peoples and local communities find legal expertise relevant to their needs.

Yulia Stange, Director of the Nature Crime Alliance Secretariat, said: “Ensuring that frontline defenders and other organisations fighting nature crime have access to justice and legal support is a key tenet of the Nature Crime Alliance. We’re extremely excited by the potential opportunities arising for people, planet and justice through ILP’s membership.”

View all members of the Nature Crime Alliance