Submitted by
Matthew.COLLIS
on Fri, 09/30/2022 - 11:05
General Information
Resolution
49179
IUCN Constituent
International Fund for Animal Welfare
IUCN Constituent type
IUCN Member organisation
Period covered
Geographic scope
Global
European Union (EU)
Meso and South America
North America and the Caribbean
South and East Asia
Actors involved in implementing this Resolution:
IUCN Members
Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía ( Costa Rica )
Wildlife Trust of India ( India )
World Wide Fund for Nature - International ( Switzerland )
IUCN Secretariat
Yes
Other non-IUCN related organisations
Belgian Customs, INTERPOL, TRAFFIC
II. Implementation
Activities carried out to implement this Resolution
Activity
Capacity-building
Description and results/achievements of activities:
IFAW in partnership with several EU law enforcement agencies, WWF and others is working to improve enforcement of wildlife cybercrime through the EU-funded UNITE project. [OP2; OP4.b]
Status
On-going
Activity
Convene stakeholders/Networking
Description and results/achievements of activities:
In May 2021, (after the rafting of the Resolution but prior to its adoption), IFAW in partnership with WWF, INTERPOL, TRAFFIC, BE Customs and with financial support from the EU (ISF) convened a cross-sector workshop to explore trends, emerging issues, challenges and opportunities to strengthen policies to combat wildlife cybercrime. [OP1.a]
Status
Completed
Activity
Education/Communication/Raising awareness
Description and results/achievements of activities:
Through the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, over 11 billion user accounts have been targeted with messaging on wildlife cybercrime. [OP8]
Status
On-going
Activity
Other
Description and results/achievements of activities:
Together with WWF and TRAFFIC, IFAW continues to support the growth of the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, to better enable technology companies to tackle wildlife cybercrime. [OP8; OP4.d]
Status
On-going
Activity
Policy influencing/advocacy
Description and results/achievements of activities:
IFAW has participated in opportunities to strengthen relevant legislation for tackling wildlife cybercrime e.g.: EU Digital Service Act, EU EnviCrime Directive, UK Ivory Act and new EU ivory rules in EU Wildlife Trade regulations, EU Strategy to Tackle Organised Crime. [OP4.a]
Status
Completed
Activity
Scientific/technical activities
Description and results/achievements of activities:
Since April, IFAW has been conducting research to review national legislation and best practices in EU Policies to combat wildlife cybercrime and best practices globally in the private sector, CSOs to address wildlife cybercrime. Results will be published in due course. [OP1.b]
Status
On-going
Describe any challenges encountered in implementing this Resolution and the measures taken
Digital market places continue to present a large challenge given their huge scale and relative anonymity. Despite improvements in many company policies and some government policies, regulation and enforcement efforts continue to lag behind the scale of effort required to address the problem. Similarly generating financial resources to tackle the problem at scale remains a challenge.
Please report on the result /achievement of the actions taken
Through support for the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, IFAW and partners have helped global technology companies (primarily in the US, SE Asia and Europe) improve and enforce policies on wildlife cybercrime. The coalition now includes 47 technology companies, including the biggest names in the world. To date over 11 million posts advertising wildlife or wildlife products have been blocked or removed, over 2,300 company staff trained in detecting illegal activity; and more than 11,000 suspect listings flagged with companies and enforcement agencies through dedicated cyber-spotter programs, which have lead directly to investigations and prosecutions by a number of governments authorities.
Thanks to policy influencing efforts, the new EU Digital Services Act explicitly references the illegal trade of animals in the definition of “illegal content” to be governed by the DSA. Measures under the DSA should help incentivise better enforcement of wildlife cybercrime by digital services providers in the EU.
Thanks to policy influencing efforts, the new EU Digital Services Act explicitly references the illegal trade of animals in the definition of “illegal content” to be governed by the DSA. Measures under the DSA should help incentivise better enforcement of wildlife cybercrime by digital services providers in the EU.
Identify and briefly describe what future actions/activities are planned for the implementation of this Resolution
Future action / activity
Convene stakeholders/Networking
Description
At the forthcoming CoP19 of CITES, IFAW will co-host with Costa Rica a side-event: Creating a coordinated approach to combat wildlife crime linked to the internet – with speakers from law enforcement, CITES MA, NGOs/private sector.
Future action / activity
Other
Description
IFAW will continue to support the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, to improve company policies, support enforcement efforts, an raise awareness with the public.
Future action / activity
Policy influencing/advocacy
Description
IFAW will continue to work with law makers in the EU to push for the adoption of an EU Code of Conduct on Wildlife Cybercrime under the new Digital Services Act.
Future action / activity
Scientific/technical activities
Description
IFAW intends to undertake a review of current best practices and loopholes in regulations/policies in the Greater Mekong Region.
III. Additional Information
Report status
Published
Constituent type
IUCN Member