Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the fight against poaching and wildlife crime, and to tell you a little about what UNODC is doing to help countries confront this growing and urgent threat. And my warm thanks to Secretary-General Rifai for organizing this timely meeting.
Wildlife crime is especially devastating for countries that rely on ecotourism, as the recent declaration of the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade recognizes.
This crime steals revenues from legitimate economic activities, in particular tourism. It destroys livelihoods and ecosystems, and undermines development and stability.
It is a crime that is getting ever more organized and ever more destructive, with many animals being driven to the brink of extinction.
It is estimated that every year, between 5,600 and 15,400 elephants are poached in Eastern Africa for their ivory, most of which is destined for markets in Asia.
Three of the five living rhino species, meanwhile, are listed as 'critically endangered' by the IUCN red list. In South Africa, home to 90 per cent of Africa's rhino population, over 1,000 rhinos were killed in 2013, compared with 22 rhinos killed in 2003.
In terms of profits, wildlife crime ranks among such illicit activities as trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings. Globally, wildlife crime is conservatively estimated to be worth around $8 to $10 billion annually.
Like all transnational organized crime, wildlife crime can only be stopped through a comprehensive, coordinated response nationally, regionally and globally.
As the guardian of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, UNODC supports countries in tackling these challenges.
UNODC is also part of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime - or ICCWC - with the CITES Secretariat, the World Bank, the World Customs Organization and INTERPOL.
ICCWC aims to help deliver a coordinated and comprehensive approach to wildlife crime.
Through ICCWC, UNODC has developed the Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit to assist Member States in strengthening national criminal justice systems.
We are also helping countries to develop more innovative approaches in tackling ivory poaching .
UNODC assists States in gaining access to quality forensic scientific services to combat illicit drugs and crime, and we are discussing ways to bolster the capacities of laboratories in countries affected by poaching.
Such work may help reveal the origin of ivory samples, and support law enforcement action by pinpointing areas where significant poaching is occurring.
In addition to helping countries enhance their investigative and criminal justice responses, UNODC is working to address demand with initiatives to educate consumers about the devastating impact of poaching and wildlife crime.
We recently launched a campaign in Asia with actress Li Bing Bing, who is well known in the region, calling on consumers and tourists not to purchase wildlife products from endangered wildlife species.
The global campaign we launched yesterday with UNWTO and UNESCO aims to raise awareness of how tourists, through their consumer choices, can make a difference in the fight against organized crime.
National campaigns are also essential, and tourism ministries could promote the development of local awareness-raising campaigns, which could be further distributed by the foreign travel operators who are bringing in tourists.
As an example of how this has been effective in addressing other forms of organized crime, in India UNODC worked with the Ministry of Tourism, the private sector and civil society to develop the Code of Conduct for Safe and Honourable Tourism to stop human trafficking and exploitation, based on the UNWTO Global Code of Conduct.
Such a partnership could also be very effective in the fight against wildlife crime. And what we need most of all are partnerships, if we hope to stop this terrible threat.
Thank you.