The World Wildlife Crime Report 2024 was launched on Monday, May 13, 2024, by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria. This is the third report in a series following the 2020 and 2016 publications.
The report provides an updated focus on trends in the illegal trade in wildlife species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It presents a systematic analysis of wildlife crime harms and impacts, probes the factors driving wildlife trafficking trends, and takes stock of current knowledge about the effectiveness of the different types of interventions being pursued to resolve wildlife crime.
CITES Secretary-General, Ivonne Higuero, in congratulating UNODC and all those involved in the launch of the report, remarked: “World Wildlife Crime Reports are uniquely insightful and are a powerful tool to inform responses to the devastating consequences of wildlife crime. Data-driven research is crucial and forms a strong foundation for policymaking. This research drives factual decision-making, and targeted interventions to combat this global threat that affects people and planet.”
New emphasis in this edition is placed on the assessment of the causes and impacts of wildlife trafficking and associated crime at a global level. The findings of the report reinforce a critical message that the factors driving trafficking from source to end markets vary enormously between different illicit wildlife commodity sectors.
It stresses the importance of using solutions which can be tailored and the potential for ongoing wildlife crime research to assist these efforts by gaining insights into criminal structures, financial incentives and evolving demand patterns of trafficking chains.
The seizure data in the report documents illegal trade in 162 countries and territories during 2015–2021, which impacted around 4,000 plant and animal species – 3,250 of which are listed in the CITES Appendices. In many cases, illegal trade appeared to have contributed to local or global extinctions of species, disrupted ecosystems, and undermined the many socioeconomic benefits that people derive from nature.
Case studies on specimens of species affected by illegal wildlife trade were included for live orchids, dried seahorses, rosewood timber, African elephant ivory, African rhinoceros horn and pangolin scales.
The data in the report is largely derived from the available national annual illegal trade reports, which CITES Parties are required to submit each year. This data is included in the CITES Illegal Trade Database and hosted by UNODC on behalf of the CITES Secretariat. The dissemination platform for the database allows illegal trade data to become an accessible and valuable resource for CITES Parties, who use the data to guide their decision-making and support the development of targeted and evidence-based responses to combat wildlife crime.
CITES plays a crucial role in combating wildlife crime as the primary legal framework for regulating international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants listed in the CITES Appendices. CITES works closely with UNODC, along with INTERPOL, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the World Bank Group, as part of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC).
ICCWC works to strengthen criminal justice systems and provide coordinated support at the national, regional and international level. The World Wildlife Crime Report 2024 will be an important resource in the work of ICCWC and for CITES Parties globally and will inform global research and analysis studies undertaken by ICCWC.
