What Ten Years of Global Wildlife Protections Looks Like

Conservation efforts have been deployed in every corner of the world since 2014 to build human-wildlife coexistence through the implementation of strong measures, the strengthening of wildlife economies, and changes in consumption habits.

In 2014, 42 countries signed the London Declaration on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, vowing to strengthen laws against poaching, reduce demand for wildlife products by means of behavior change and laws criminalizing imports or use of illegally traded species, and enforce sustainable, legal, and traceable use of wildlife.

Through the Global Wildlife Program, a Global Environment Facility-financed $365 million program working in 38 countries, more robust anti-poaching measures have been implemented in some 100 critical sites for global biodiversity, including 20 where poaching has already considerably reduced. Improved enforcement capacity in Ethiopia led to 90% of illegal wildlife trade cases presented in national courts ending in appropriately sentenced convictions. In Thailand, behaviour change initiatives led to a 30% reduction in consumer intention to purchase ivory and tiger amulets. New and old technologies have played a crucial role in stopping wildlife crime, like in Vietnam, where protected area managers can better monitor, patrol, and report poaching with the help of digital technologies, or in the Republic of Congo, where specialized sniffer dogs detect illegal wildlife products. Modernizing the ranger workforce is, without a doubt, the most crucial predictor of success for catching criminals in the act or deterring them from acting. When jobs come from wildlife, communities and governments are more inclined to manage and conserve it better. For instance, in Zambia, 7% of people’s incomes and 7.2% of jobs come from travel and tourism; two national parks alone employ more than 35,000 Zambians.