COVID-19

According to the WHO, up to 75% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, i.e. transferred from animals to humans. When wild animals are illegally taken from their natural habitat and smuggled into our cities for sale, captive breeding or consumption, existing sanitary controls are evaded. Wildlife trafficking brings significant health risks into our communities, including the potential transmission of new zoonotic diseases.

Wildlife trafficking affects all of us - and its consequences should not be underestimated. UNODC calls for increased awareness about the links between wildlife trafficking and zoonotic diseases. Governments are committed to combat wildlife trafficking through enacting stronger laws and enforcement operations. But everyone needs to say NO to wildlife trafficking to prevent the next pandemic.

UNODC is supporting governments to tackle wildlife trafficking and reduce the risk of the transmission of zoonotic diseases under its Global Programme on Crimes that Affect the Environment through the following activities:

Coordinated enforcement and operational activities at key conservation areas, border locations and major ports, based on intelligence-led interventions and sharing across jurisdictions.
Advisory/mentorship programmes on advanced investigative techniques to address the specificities of wildlife trafficking.
Improving forensic capacity to be applied during inspections in wildlife facilities as well as post-seizures of wildlife at ports, airports and land borders.
Capacity building on the investigation of online wildlife trade will be critical, as online activity may be vulnerable to interception and investigation by skilled practitioners.
Threat and risk assessment, to better understand species at risk for trafficking and relevant patterns and trends for prevention and enforcement actions. This is also relevant to identifying key nodes that pose unacceptable risks to human health and working with governments and partners to mitigate those risks.

Developing national legislation and policies to address vulnerabilities. In some countries on the demand side, this may involve improving regulations and/or closing down facilities involved in or susceptible to illegal wildlife trade.
Anti-corruption and risk mitigation, including support for both prevention and enforcement angles to reduce vulnerabilities to corruption. Mentorship and financial investigation techniques, including improvements in knowledge and actions surrounding know-your-customer and red flags, to help identify key nodes in organized criminal groups engaged in illicit wildlife trafficking.
Fostering regional and international cooperation for wildlife law enforcement and beyond. The United Nations convening power can be leveraged to bring together biosafety scientists, regulators, criminal justice officials, and key decision makers to put global health high on the national and global agendas.

United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime

Wildlife crime & COVID-19

UNODC guidance document on wildlife trafficking and COVID-19