PAN-AMERICAN MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2015 United Nations Environment Programme Illegal Wildlife Trade
Dear Delegates, It is our pleasure to welcome you to the UNEP committee of Pan-American School. My name is Diego Uribe and I am thrilled to be your Chair during these two days of PAS Model UN. Together with my co-chair, Luciana Herrero we have worked extremely hard since the beginning of this year to ensure an enthusiastic and spicy debate. We hope that your presence and participation during the debate is of great importance to make this MUN one of the most memorable and wonderful you have attended. We are confident that even though solving an international issue requires an immense effort, this committee will leave nothing but great experiences and teachings. Both my co-chair and I, have attended various Model United Nations at different schools. This will be my second model UN conference as a staff member and the first one for my co-chair. This year in the UNEP council we will be discussing a very controversial topic, which is the illegal trafficking and hunting of wildlife. Even though this topic affects every sector of society and it can be analyzed from a global perspective, it has not received the attention it deserves. The illegal wildlife trade and hunting is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that threatens international security, while endangering the survival of precious animal species. Some of the most lucrative trading of wildlife includes the trafficking of: elephant ivory, rhino horn, sturgeon caviar, and the well-known bushmeat. It is evident that the illegal trafficking of wildlife is fueled primarily by the high worldwide demands for exotic materials originating from animals. As it was stated, the illegal wildlife trading imposes both, environmental and security issues around the world, and sources indicate that organized criminal syndicates, insurgent groups, and military units play a crucial role in this issue. Furthermore, terrorist groups around the globe are engaged in wildlife crimes, primarily poaching for monetary interests. Investigators claim that it is crucial to vanish and restrict the participation of terrorist groups due to the fact that these could threaten the stability of countries, foster corruption, and encourage a violent solution to protect species in danger of extinction. Delegates, it is your task to come up with a creative solution to diminish this environmental crime crisis. Discussion between the nations in this committee will be primordial for finding viable, safe, and effective solutions. We encourage every single delegate in this committee to contribute with thought-provoking comments and ideas to solve this imminent and urgent issue; every delegate has a key role during this debate. Research and preparation will be critical for this committee to advance. Remember that the best delegates will receive recognitions that include, honorary mentions and one best-delegate award. We wish you all the best of luck and do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Diego Uribe Chair diego.uribe@panam.ed.cr Luciana Herrero Co-Chair luciana.herrero@panam.ed.cr 1
Introduction Through recent years, it has become evident that the issue of illegal wildlife trade has reached significant global proportions. It is estimated that the illicit trading of flora and fauna across different continents has grown from 70 to 213 billion US dollars annually in the last years. This issue is depriving developing economies of billions of dollars around the globe, huge losses in revenues, and development opportunities. Thus, illegal wildlife trade does not only have environmental impacts; world economies are in danger. Furthermore, global illegal wildlife trade is a vast illicit economy that provides funding to powerful militia and terrorist groups. The consequences have become evident; this issue has prevented both sustainable development and environmental sustainability in several countries. As it is reflected in the decisions made in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, INTERPOL, the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and others have ratified that illegal wildlife trade and environmental crime are now considered significant internal threats and must be tackled immediately. The illegal trade in wildlife is no longer an emerging issue. The trade involves a wide range of species including insects, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and mammals. This concerns both dead and alive products that are used for pharmaceutical, food, pets, ornamental or traditional purposes. Animals such as gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, tigers, rhinos, Tibetan antelopes, bears, corals, birds, and pangolins suffer from illegal trade. However, all of these animals have a significant value not only on the black market, but also to national economies. Even though illegal wildlife trade operates outside of official government regulations and management, it represents a significant economic, environmental, and security threat that has received little attention in the past. It is estimated that out of a population of 420,000 to 650,000 elephants in Africa, around 20,000 are killed every year. Since 2002, the population of forest elephants has declined by 62%. For rhinos, 94% of the poaching takes place in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and it is estimated that the rhino horn business is worth around 192 million USD. Furthermore, poaching has increased dramatically in recent years from less than 50 syndicates in 2007, to more than 1 000 in 2013. Moreover, as a result of China s economic success, illegal ivory trade has tripled over the past decade, while at the same time, the number of poached elephants in Africa has doubled. A report conducted by INTERPOL suggests that large-scale ivory trading reached a global-high in 2013. In the Chinese black market, the rhino horn sells for $66 319 per kilogram, which is more than the price of platinum and gold. These activities are not only conducted by poachers trying to escape from poverty, but are actually controlled by highly sophisticated and organized crime networks. 2
Other illegal wildlife trade impacts going beyond economy and ecology are the following: motivating governmental corruption, violent conflicts, human rights abuses, and the exploitation of impoverished communities. It is evident that this issue poses an imminent risk to the national security and stability of countries because of the many organized crime networks that fund terrorists groups in Africa. Delegates, all this data reveals that the illegal trafficking of wildlife is no longer an emerging subject. I am confident enough that in this year s Model UN, the delegates at the United Nations Environmental Programme will tackle illegal wildlife trade. Due to the fact that illegal wildlife trade is conducted between countries, collaboration and coordination between delegates will be primordial to build an effective solution that fights this alarming situation. History of the Committee The United Nations Environmental Programme was established after the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm, Sweden, which proposed the creation of a global body to act as the environmental conscience of the UN system. In response, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2997 on December 15, 1972 creating the UNEP Governing Council, composed of 58 nations elected for four-year terms by the UN General Assembly, responsible for assessing the state of the global environment, establishing UNEP's programme priorities, and approving the budget. The UNEP Secretariat, with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, has the duty to to provide a focal point for environmental action and coordination within the UN system, headed by an Executive Director, with the rank of UN Under-Secretary-General; and a voluntary Environment Fund to finance UNEP s environmental initiatives, to be supplemented by trust funds and funds allocated by the UN regular budget. The Stockholm Conference marked the formal acceptance by the international community that development and the environment are inextricably linked. It prompted a growing body of research that has greatly improved understanding and awareness of critical environmental issues over the past three-plus decades, and it provided the impetus for new national, regional and international environmental legislation worldwide. In the subsequent two decades, a proliferation of environmental conferences and conventions addressed various environmental issues, including conserving endangered species, controlling the movement of hazardous wastes, and reversing the depletion of the ozone layer. The most successful and wellknown convention from this period was the 1987 Montreal Protocol of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, an example of international environmental cooperation whose inspiration reverberates to this day. History of the Problem Illegal wildlife trade has increasingly become a vast problem in 3
the recent years, now spanning to be the fourth largest illegal trade just below narcotics, counterfeit goods, and human traffic. Demand for wildlife trade is mainly divided into three different categories: traditional east Asian medicine, exotic pets, and commercial products, while the most profitable products, such as rhino horns, tiger bones, and elephant ivory, belong mostly to endangered species. Illegal wildlife trade has become a criminal enterprise spanning countries and continents all around the world, not only performed by poachers trying to escape poverty, but by wellorganized crime networks. Wildlife trade is something that has been going on for thousands of years, happening since ancient civilizations like Egypt. For example, pharaohs were gifted with giraffes, baboons, hippopotamuses, and leopards, all coming from Africa. In the Roman coliseums, brutal battles were held involving imported animals like lions, tigers, elephants, and bears, all coming from beyond the Roman Empire. Exchange of wildlife and other derived products from America, Asia, and Africa was facilitated through European colonialism. During the late 1800s it was fashionable in Europe and the United States to wear hats made of the feathers of exotic tropical birds, thus causing a mass killing of these animals. This drove the first regulations over wildlife trade to occur in the 19th century. A similar occasion happened with the Convention for the Protection of Birds Useful to Agriculture in 1902, which banned trade of birds that were valuable in controlling agricultural pests. Treaties and regulations made in the first half of the 20th century regarding wildlife trade were only directed to animals that had any commercial value. For example, in 1911 Japan, UK, Russia, and the United States signed the Treaty for the Preservation and Protection of Fur Seals, which banned the mass killing of fur seals for fur trade. They agreed to share seal pelts gained under controlled hunts, and prohibited the sale of pelts that had not been obtained through those hunts. In 1933 the Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State was held in London, involving the European powers in Africa. Its purpose was to protect valuable species from being hunted, and created protected zones in Africa. The Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere, also known as the Western Hemisphere Convention, held in 1940, was the first international agreement that created protection measures for all endangered or threatened species, not just the ones with commercial value. However, there was no governing body to help governments carry out these regulations, and the list of protected species was confusing. To overcome these deficiencies, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES for short, was held in 1973, and is known as the most important international trade agreement regarding wildlife trade. CITES presently has 180 member countries, and has been more successful in enforcing regulations than any past international conservation 4
effort. However, CITES s success has been trampled in recent years due to a resurgence in illegal wildlife trade, posing new and complex problems. Current Situation Not all wildlife trade is illegal. For example, crododriles are traded legally from Australia; this has no environmental impact whatsoever because they are harvested in wildlife farms instead of taken out forcibly from their habitat. It is important to acknowledge, however, that it has become a global crisis because a big part, one that keeps increasing, has become illegal, and is therefore unsustainable. This situation creates a negative impact on the environment and the animals. The problem with wildlife trade is that regulations that determine which species are legal for trading sometimes vary from country to country, causing controversy between what is considered to be illegal and legal wildlife trade worldwide. The supply chain of illegal wildlife products, from the source country, sometimes passing through a transit country, and finally reaching the consumer country, is very complex; it involves different groups and agencies. Poachers are enlisted by criminal syndicates to obtain the wildlife products in the source countries by smuggling the illegal wildlife products to the trader and consumer markets, often times in the same way as weapons and drugs. The huge participation and operation of international organized criminal groups-- such as the criminal syndicates-- in illegal wildlife trade is made possible because this kind of trade is not yet considered to be a crime of serious caliber, such as drug and human trafficking. The only real victim is the wildlife, while stakeholders (crime syndicates, poachers, consumers, etc.) are the ones who benefit. Often times, the profit generated in illegal wildlife trade is used to fund other criminal activities, while it isn t uncommon for terrorist organizations to carry out the illegal trade themselves and benefit from it. In fact, a connection between numerous conflicts in central Africa and illegal wildlife trade has been made. For example, the terrorist group al-shebab earns around $38 million and $68 million practicing illegal charcoal trade, while illegal ivory trade is practiced by militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, as well by gangs in Chad and Niger. Even official military armies like the Uganda and Congolese army, and South Sudan s military have been involved in illegal ivory trade. Illegal wildlife trade is the means that fuels other major conflicts around the world. Rhino horns are another product that like the elephant ivory, constitute an important aspect of the illegal wildlife trade, since they are products in high demand. This illegal trade is done mainly from South Africa to Vietnam, where they are sold for their use as a cure for cancer, a detoxifying agent, and even aphrodisiacs. Thanks to the increasing demand from Asian countries, the poaching of rhinos rose from only 13 in 2007 to 448 in 2011. 5
Illegal logging is also a critical part of illegal wildlife trade, making from $30 billion to $100 billion a year. Research done by UNEP and INTERPOL has concluded that around 50 to 90 percent of illegal logging in the Amazons and various areas in Africa is executed by criminal groups. Deforestation in these regions affects the environment and endangers the survival of many animal and plant species. Illegal charcoal trade should not be ignored either, since it is a source of profit for various terrorist groups. Illegal wildlife trade has a negative impact on the environment, since the overexploitation of biodiversity and the ecosystems threatens their survival. Many invasive species that are introduced by illegal traders and consumers- like illegally imported Burmese pythons in the Everglades, Florida, that are released by pet owners- become a threat to the native species. Non-target species are also killed when caught in nets and traps. Many animals have become extinct because of illegal hunting and poaching for wildlife trade, like the western black rhinoceros. Many others, such as shark species, tigers, and African elephants are endangered, and their numbers keep declining. As it can be seen in the figure below, the illicit bushmeat trade involves a series of underlying socioeconomic factors that lead with rising population densities to local depletion of wildlife species. Bloc Positions Illegal Wildlife trade is considered a global problem, however, there are certain regions where the concentration and density of this problem is greater than in others. Some of these hotspots are: southeast Asia, China, eastern and southern Africa, eastern Europe, parts of Mexico and the Caribbean, Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. In southern Africa, ambiguous laws permit the hunting of rhinos as trophies, which enables illicit poaching to occur. Due to this, illegal hunting has tremendously increased in recent years. As a matter of fact, countries like Mozambique, Thailand, and Vietnam may face harsh economic sanction from CITES if they do not create a national rhinoceros action plan. The demand of illegal ivory is highest in China, and the demand for rhino horn is highest in Vietnam. Paradoxically, the demand for 6
these wildlife products has decreased in other Asian Countries. For example, the Republic of Korea has banned the use of rhino horns and tiger parts for medicine, due to the development of herbal substitutes. Moreover, Southeast Asia is a region that is heavily involved in illegal wildlife trade. For example, the domestic ivory trade in Thailand is a key part of the illegal ivory trade between Africa and China, and even though the Thai government promised to end ivory trade in 2013, nothing has occurred. Due to this, Thailand was forced to submit a revised national ivory action plan including specific actions to effectively control the domestic trade and possession of ivory. Furthermore, countries like Vietnam could face sanctions if they do not show evidence that they are taking solid actions to prevent the smuggling of ivory in their country. Central and South American Countries are heavily involved in the illegal trafficking of wildlife. Even though these countries do not face the levels of population pressure on the environment as in Asia and Africa, illegal wildlife trade still represents an urgent threat to the region s biodiversity. In the Amazon, wildlife trade focuses mainly on tropical birds, reptiles, and mammals. America could become a center of illegal wildlife trade if the security at the borders is not strengthen. In Eastern Europe, countries suffer from similar wildlife crime enforcement issues as in other nations: weak legislation and lack of trained staff. Europe is considered a transit hub for wildlife trade. It receives wildlife products from America, Asia, and Africa and supplies them to other markets. Nevertheless, Eastern Europe is an important exporter of live reptiles, birds, and caviar. Although Russia modified and strengthen its wildlife crime laws in 2013, little progress has been seen in the region. The European Union is a major transit route for illegal ivory and other products being smuggled from Africa, which are then re-exported to other consumer countries. The Schengen Agreement signed in 1985, which removes the need for visas or border control while travelling between 26 European Countries has allowed smugglers to traffic wildlife illegally. North America also plays a very important role regarding the trafficking of wildlife. The United States is a major consumer of illegal wildlife products, while Mexico is a source country for illegal wildlife products. Even though Canada, United States, and Mexico created the North American Wildlife Enforcement Group, there is still a lot of work to do. Possible Solutions In essence, the illegal trafficking of wildlife is motivated by factors such as: political corruption, poverty, weak regulations, unprotected borders, and inadequate or weak enforcement of laws. It is primordial to come up with solutions that tackle the cultural, political, economical, and social causes that directly affect illegal wildlife trade. Furthermore, both short and long-term solutions will require greater financial investment and political support. For example, short-term solutions should focus on raising public awareness about this alarming issue, 7
strengthening law enforcement (especially in developing nations), and fighting against political corruption. Long-term solutions need to focus on an appropriate distribution and management of natural resources and the implementation of green economies in areas where illegal wildlife trade is concentrated. Green economies are economic systems in which there is a balance between the social, environmental, and economic aspects of a country. The transnational nature of illegal wildlife trade makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to tackle because many individual agencies are unable to work effectively outside their own country s domestic jurisdictions. This is why international collaboration between countries, agencies, and regions is the only effective strategy to combat the illegal wildlife trade. For example, the formation of a multiagency, the National Environmental Security Task Forces (NESTs), is an initiative encouraged by INTERPOL. This agency seeks international cooperation between environmental and enforcement agencies to combat illegal wildlife trade. Furthermore, an agency with this nature will provide countries with weak infrastructure and inadequate technology the aid and information necessary to succeed. In many countries, primarily in developing ones, governmental law enforcement agencies face many challenges while trying to control illegal wildlife trade. In many countries, inadequate legislation and lack of funding creates an environment in which criminals can operate without the fear of facing legal charges. The Multilateral Environment agreements should incorporate funding and guidelines for the enforcement of regulations. To strengthen these policies, countries can educate and train personnel like police officers and judiciary officials about how to deal specifically with illegal wildlife trade. Furthermore, judicial systems around the world, especially in developing countries which see illegal wildlife trade as an unserious issue, should strengthen the legal consequences of this illicit act. For example, in April 2013 the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice sought to declare wildlife trafficking as a serious crime, and called for a minimum of four years of imprisonment when dealing with criminals involved in the wildlife trade. The most powerful factor that is driving wildlife trade is consumer demand; this means that without demand, there is no trade. Due to this, it is the task of every government around the world to raise public awareness about the seriousness of this issue and the effects it has on the environment and the people. The Internet, social media, and propaganda are adequate tools to raise awareness. Up next, we will provide a list of recommendations, provided by the United Nations Environmental Programme, you should address and evaluate during the debate to reach a possible consensus. 1. Acknowledge the multiple dimensions of environmental crime and its serious impact on the environment and sustainable development goals, and help support and balance the appropriate coordination and sharing of information from 8
stakeholders, such as civil society, private sector, indigenous peoples, governments and a wider UN system with the need and recognition of also the role of law enforcement in good environmental governance. 2. Call for a comprehensive coordinated UN system and national approach to environmental crime by helping coordinate efforts on environmental legislation and regulations, poverty alleviation and development support with responses from the enforcement sector to curb environmental crime, as part of a holistic approach to challenge the serious threat to both the environment and sustainable development caused by the continued environmental crime. 3. Further call upon UNEP as the global environmental authority to address the serious and rising environmental impacts of environmental crime and to engage the relevant coordination mechanisms of the UN system to support countries and national, regional and international law enforcement agencies with relevant environmental information to facilitate their efforts to combat the illegal trade in wildlife species. 4. Calls upon the entire international and bilateral donor community to recognize and address environmental crime as a serious threat to sustainable development and revenues, and to support national, regional and global efforts for the effective implementation of, compliance with and enforcement of targeted measures to curb illegal trade in wildlife species. 5. Support immediate, decisive and collective action to narrow the gap between commitments and compliance, such as the ones expressed in multilateral environmental agreements, through national implementation and enforcement, including the relevant decisions and resolutions taken by their governing bodies intended to combat the illicit trade in wildlife. 6. Identify end-user markets and systematically design, support and implement where appropriate consumer awareness campaigns focusing on high consumer end-markets. Call upon both Governments and the UN system to effectively work with and engage civil society and the private sector in efforts to identify alternatives to consumer demands for traded wildlife species. 7. Strengthen institutional, legal and regulatory systems to further combat corruption to effectively address wildliferelated offences and to ensure that legal trade is monitored and managed effectively. 8. Strengthen international and development support to the entire enforcement chain, including frontline, investigator, 9
customs, prosecutors and the judiciary, with particular reference to environmental crime to support legal revenues and sustainable development, and to reduce the impacts on the environment from environmental crime. 9. Strengthen support to INTERPOL, UNODC, WCO and CITES, such as through ICCWC as well as individual programmes, to enable them to support member states and other relevant stakeholders to further identify, develop and implement the most appropriate responses to environmental crime, reflecting and acknowledging the serious threats and effects it has on environmental governance, wildlife, ecosystems and the services it provides. 10. Invest in capacity building and technological support to national environment, wildlife and law enforcement agencies to enable them to further protect key populations of iconic endangered species threatened by poaching, such as but not limited to, rhinos, tigers and the African elephant as a necessary response to safeguard these species from poaching, alongside renewed efforts to strengthening habitat protection and management. 11. Strengthen environmental legislation, compliance and awareness and call upon enforcement agencies and countries to reduce the role of illicit trade to threat finance to non-state armed groups and terrorism. Moreover, as was stated by Mr. Achim Steiner, the UN Under-Secretary General and the UNEP Executive Director, A global and holistic response needs to be implemented to support national, regional and international efforts by strengthening and synchronizing actions targeting coherent environmental legislation, poverty alleviation and demand reduction. Questions our Council Must Answer 1. How can a variety of participants, such as poachers, law enforcement, traders, and consumers, be included in a solution to end the illegal wildlife trade? 2. How can the people concerned in legal wildlife trade be participants in ending the illegal wildlife trade? 3. How would viewing wildlife crime as connected to other illegal trades like drug and human trafficking lead to a more effective global response? 4. How much responsibility and impact do the consumer countries (developed countries) have when it comes to ending the wildlife trade in source countries (developing countries)? 5. Is there a need for separate legislation governing the illegal ivory trade, or the trade in any particular illegal products? 6. How can management of protected areas and endangered 10
species be improved to prevent poaching, especially in developing countries? 7. How can regional partnerships become stronger and firmer to fight the illegal wildlife trade more effectively? 8. How can the wildlife trade regulations be enforced in a more effective manner in the governments to end illegal wildlife trade? Suggestions for Further Research For further information you can visit the following pages: Cites Official Website: https://cites.org/ UNEP Yearbook: it is a report about the yearly progress the UNEP does regarding certain issues, including the illegal wildlife trade. http://www.unep.org/yearbook/ UNEP News Centre http://www.unep.org/newscentre/ Illegal Wildlife Trade Overview http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats /illegal-wildlife-trade Statements in the Ministerial Dialogue on Illegal Trade in Wildlife http://www.unep.org/unea/docs_hl_i llegal_trade_in_wildlife.asp Global Impacts about the Illegal Wildlife Trade http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/f iles/chathamhouse/public/research/a frica/0214wildlife.pdf International Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Threats and US Policy https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/rl 34395.pdf Illegal Trade in Wildlife: A North American Perspective https://www.cbd.int/financial/monter reytradetech/g-montrade-cec.pdf The Environmental Crime Crisis http://www.unep.org/unea/docs/rra crimecrisis.pdf Closing Remarks Delegates, I hope you have used this study guide to learn about the topic and its current situations and I trust that you will also investigate your country s position and situation regarding Illegal Wildlife Trade thoroughly. I truly believe that each and every one of you is capable of accurately representing your country in the conference, so always keep a cooperative attitude. I am sure that we will be able to maintain a fluent deliberation and reach a consensus that will solve the issues presented. Thank you and enjoy the conference! 11
List of Countries in the Committee 1. United States 2. France 3. India 4. China 5. United Kingdom 6. Japan 7. Kenya 8. Canada 9. Brasil 10. Vietnam 11. South Africa 12. Thailand 13. Indonesia 14. Australia 15. Costa Rica 16. Venezuela 17. Uganda 18. Tanzania 19. Peru 20. Norway 21. Mexico 22. New Guinea 23. Solomon Islands 24. South Korea 25. Russia 26. UAE 12
27. Madagascar 28. Ecuador 29. Saudi Arabia 30. Iran 31. Jamaica 32. Greenland Bibliography Christy, B & Hartley, A. (2014).The History of the Ivory Trade. (2013, February 15). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://education.nationalgeographic.com/media/history-ivory-trade/ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from https://cites.org/ Lawson, K., & Vines, A. (2014, February). Global Impacts of the Illegal Wildlife Trade. Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/public/research/africa/ 0214Wildlife.pdf Illegal Trade in Wildlife: A North American Perspective. (2005). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from https://www.cbd.int/financial/monterreytradetech/g-montrade-cec.pdf Illegal Wildlife Trade. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade INTERPOL Member Countries Continue Fight against Illegal Logging in Latin America. (2014). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.unep.org/newscentre/default.aspx?documentid=2723&articleid=957 6 Nelleman, C. (2014). The Environmental Crime Crisis Threats to Sustainable Development from Illegal Exploitation and Trade in Wildlife and Forest Resources. Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.unep.org/unea/docs/rracrimecrisis.pdf Project Wisdom / / Environmental crime / Crime areas / Internet / Home. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.interpol.int/crime-areas/environmentalcrime/projects/project-wisdom Sun Wyler, L., & A. Sheikh, P. (2013, July 23). International Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Threats and U.S. Policy. Retrieved July 17, 2015, from https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/rl34395.pdf Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda Unite Efforts to Combat Illegal Timber Trade in East Africa. (2014, June 26). Retrieved July 17, 2015. UNEP YEAR BOOK. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.unep.org/yearbook/ 13