EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking: Lessons learned, Challenges, and Opportunities

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) invite you to join a virtual dialogue on 3rd March 2022 (World Wildlife Day) that will present lessons learned and discuss challenges and opportunities for a renewed EU Action Plan to tackle wildlife trafficking, including how the EU can support the fight against wildlife trafficking in the field in partner countries.

Wildlife trafficking has become one of the most lucrative criminal activities and constitutes one of the most immediate threats to biodiversity in many parts of the world. Around the globe, wildlife is being bought and sold on an increasingly massive scale as pets, food, medicine, furs, feathers, skins, decorations, and trinkets. The European Union has an important role to play in addressing wildlife trafficking, as it constitutes a significant destination market, a hub for trafficking in transit to other parts of the world, as well as the source region for illegal trade in some species. 

In February 2016, the European Commission adopted an EU Action Plan to tackle wildlife trafficking within the EU and to strengthen the EU's role in the global fight against these illegal activities, which is currently under review. It is timely to discuss what has been achieved to date and what the EU can still do further, particularly as a contribution to a new EU Action Plan.

This virtual dialogue will be moderated by Mr. Jorge Rios – Chief of UNODC Global Wildlife and Forest Crime Programme. Confirmed speakers include Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius – EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Mr. Jorge Rodriguez Romero – Deputy Head of Unit, Multilateral Environmental Cooperation at DG ENV, Prof. Dr. Tanya Wyatt – Criminology, Northumbria University, and Ms. Yovana Murillo – WCS Program Manager for Counter Wildlife Trafficking in Andes - Amazon - Orinoco.

The full programme will be available soon on this webpage.

Please register in order to receive the link to connect to the live event.