25 July 2012 - The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), of which UNODC is a member, has launched its Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit and announced that it has secured $600,000 for the current fiscal year through the World Bank Development Grant Facility (DGF) to strengthen national enforcement capacities to fight wildlife crime.

Every day, wild plants and animals are being illegally logged, harvested or hunted in the richest biodiversity areas of the planet to satisfy lucrative illegal domestic and international markets, often controlled by criminal syndicates. Trafficking, supplying, possessing and consuming wild fauna and flora obtained in contravention of national and international laws are happening at a scale that poses an immediate risk to species and ecosystems, as well as to the people who rely upon them for their livelihoods.

The economic, social and environmental impact of illicit trafficking in wildlife was also recognized in the Rio+20 outcome document 'The Future We Want' agreed by more than 100 Heads of State on 22 June 2012.

Yet wildlife crime remains poorly studied in comparison to other areas of illicit trade, such as the illicit trade in drugs, which is the subject of the World Drug Report issued by UNODC and the annual Customs and Drugs Report issued by the World Customs Organization (WCO).

For more Information, concerning the ICCWC launches wildlife and forest crime toolkit, please check: HERE

For more Information concerning the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime, ICCWC, please consult the following link:

To read more on overview of ICCWC, the global Program and Ressource.