Stand Up Against Wildlife Crime

Southeast Asia has always been a region in the world that is renowned not only for its cultural diversity, but equally for its biodiversity as well. Home to extensive forests, coral reefs and majestic species such as the Sumatran Tiger and Orangutans, this region where we reside in definitely boasts a myriad of species worth being proud of.

Within the past few decades, SE Asia witnessed rapid development in terms of population, infrastructure improvement and economic structures.  However, even with these advancements, wildlife crime remains a deep rooted problem in this region.  More often than not, they are carried out in a unlawful manner, where wildlife are hunted unsustainably.

 Most of us would have heard and in fact, be well aware of other environmental problems permeating the region such as extensive deforestation and global warming. Perhaps under the light of these more prominent problems, a blind eye was accidentally turned against the adverse effects that illegal wildlife trade is imposing in the region. Afterall, one can simply argue that this matter ultimately does not involve the harming of humans, and that in itself is an adequate reason enough to detach.

This was exactly the same problem faced by the Conventional of International Trade in Endangered Species, or otherwise known as CITES. There is still an overwhelming amount of people who view illegal wildlife trade as a category that falls out of usual “mainstream crime”, which further impedes the monitoring of it. However, in recent years, the amount of wildlife products traded illegally has escalated to the point where it caught the attention of many renowned political figures, among whom include President Obama, Hilary Clinton and even the Duke of Cambridge. In the words of President Obama himself, illegal wildlife trade is now an  “international crisis”.

This problem is particularly acute in Southeast Asia.  As shown in the trade map below, it becomes evident that SE Asia accounts for both consumption and supply of wildlife products.

25% of illegal wildlife trade occurs in this region alone and this exceeds any continent on this planet.  Regardless of whether these animals are traded as statuses of wealth, food and medical purposes or exotic souvenirs, there is hardly any denial that illegal wildlife trade is severely jeopardising conservation efforts and depleting our resources at an alarming rate.