WCC 2016 Res 025 - Progress Report

• Launched the UN Environment report Wild Life, Wild Livelihoods: Involving communities in sustainable wildlife management and combating illegal wildlife trade, (written in partnership with IIED) March 2018; see https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/wild-life-wild-livelihoods-involving-communities-sustainable. This report was a formal submission (in response to a Decision) to UN Environment Assembly 3, and was presented at meetings of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Standing Committee and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA).
• Released important guidance and a toolbox for field projects seeking to engage communities in combating poaching for illegal wildlife trade, from the First Line of Defence project of IUCN ESARO, IIED and IUCN SULi, May 2018; supported by the UK IWT Challenge Fund. See https://www.iucn.org/news/eastern-and-southern-africa/201805/iucn-and-iied-launch-guidance-local-communities-first-line-defence-against-illegal-wildlife-trade-flod
• Developed and launched a new online Learning Platform on Communities and IWT (in partnership with IIED and TRAFFIC; supported by the German Government Partnership against Poaching and IWT (BMUB and BMZ), implemented by GIZ; the UK Defra IWT Challenge Fund; USAID via the Wildlife TRAPS program implemented by TRAFFIC): please see live at www.peoplenotpoaching.org. This brings together case studies and resources on approaches to reducing IWT that support and engage indigenous and local people as key stakeholders, and will soon begin interactive learning exercises such as webinars. The platform was launched at three different events in London around the IWT Conference (see below) and at the Collaborative Partnership on Wildlife’s Wildlife Forum held at the Convention on Biological Diversity CoP in Sharm el-Sheik, November 2018.
• Convened (with partners IIED, TRAFFIC, ZSL and FFI) a “Community Voices: Local Perspectives on International Responses to Illegal Wildlife Trade” event immediately before the London Conference on IWT in October 2018 (see report at http://pubs.iied.org/17633IIED/) (funded by GIZ, UN Environment, UK Defra IWT Challenge Fund, ZSL, FFI and TRAFFIC). We secured funding for about 40 community representatives from about 25 countries to attend, selecting candidates based on a widely distributed call for applicants, and had a total audience of around 120 (governments, NGOs, academics etc), with many more turned away due to capacity restrictions. Communities presented perspectives and drafted their own messages for the London Conference on IWT .
• Helped plan the London Conference on IWT itself, (https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/london-conference-on-the-illegal-wildlife-trade-2018/about), working with UK Government organisers to encourage them to include community representatives in the formal program, and developing the agenda for those events. Importantly, a session on community representatives included three of the community representatives we supported, and delivered key messages from the Community Voices event.
• Ran a side-event at the Conference with both community and government representatives from specific countries (Nepal (including Ministry of Forests and Environment, Tanzania, including Tanzania Wildlife Mgt Authority, Namibia), discussing their relationships in-country and why and how their programs were working
• Ran a workshop on Communities and IWT at the “Evidence to Action: research on IWT” symposium convened by five leading UK research institutions (https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/event/2611)
• Participated in the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, May 2018, in a special mini-symposium focused on illegal wildlife trade. It is envisaged that EAZA will develop a working group focused on this issue.