Connections between trades and trafficking in wildlife and drugs

Uhm, Daan van; South, Nigel; Wyatt, Tanya

doi:10.1007/s12117-021-09416-z

Cited by 27 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Wildlife crime is the fourth most profitable illegal trade in the world, after drug, human and weapons trafficking (Doody et al., 2021). Although the exact figure remains uncertain, the size of the illicit wildlife trade, a predominant form of wildlife crime, is estimated to be between $5 and 20 billion annually (Alacs et al., 2010; Menotti‐Raymond et al., 2023; van Uhm et al., 2021; WWF/Dalberg, 2012; Wyler & Sheikh, 2013), and it is often also associated with other serious criminal offenses, such as homicide, fraud, corruption and racketeering, including money laundering and the trafficking of people, drugs and arms, dealing in counterfeit products and financing terrorism (Anagnostou & Doberstein, 2022; WAF, 2023). Elephants, rhinoceros, tigers and pangolins are the most commonly poached or trafficked species (Sonricker Hansen et al., 2012; WWF, 2017).…”

Section: Wildlife Crime and Its Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Wildlife forensic genetics—Biological evidence, DNA markers, analytical approaches, and challenges

Kanthaswamy

2023

Animal Genetics

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Wildlife‐related crimes are the second most prevalent lawbreaking offense globally. This illicit trade encompasses hunting, breeding and trafficking. Besides diminishing many species and their habitats and ecosystems, hindering the economic development of local communities that depend on them, undermining the rule of law and financing terrorism, various cross‐species transmissions (zoonoses) of pathogens, including COVID‐19, can be attributed to wildlife crimes. Wildlife forensics applies interdisciplinary scientific analyses to support law enforcement in investigating wildlife crimes. Its main objectives are to identify the taxonomic species in question, determine if a crime has been committed, link a suspect to the crime and support the conviction and prosecution of the perpetrator. This article reviews wildlife crime and its implications, wildlife forensic science investigation, common forms of wildlife biological evidence, including DNA, wildlife DNA techniques and challenges in wildlife forensic genetics. The article also reviews the contributions of genetic markers such as short tandem repeat (STR) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers, which provide the probative genetic data representing the bulk of DNA evidence for solving wildlife crime. This review provides an overview of wildlife DNA databases, which are critical for searching and matching forensic DNA profiles and sequences and establishing how frequent forensic DNA profiles and sequences are in a particular population or geographic region. As such, this review will contain an in‐depth analysis of the current status of wildlife forensic genetics, and it will be of general interest to wildlife and conservation biologists, law enforcement officers, and academics interested in combating crimes against wildlife using animal forensic DNA methods.

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Section: Wildlife Crime and Its Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Wildlife forensic genetics—Biological evidence, DNA markers, analytical approaches, and challenges

Kanthaswamy

2023

Animal Genetics

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“…The presence of illegal drug activity in the mountain area (Winterland) represents a significant future threat. Illicit markets are complex, but drug trafficking is often linked to other activities, such as wildlife trafficking (Van Uhm et al, 2021). The Aconcagua Valley would be an ideal scenario.…”

Section: Anthropogenic Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coexistence in Times of Climate Crisis: A Participatory Mapping to Understanding Conservation Conflicts in the Central Andes of Chile

Vargas¹,

Hargreaves²,

Valle³

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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PurposeHuman-wildlife conflicts worldwide are arising, representing significant challenges for conservation biologists, decision-makers, and agropastoralist communities. Extreme climatic events, disease outbreaks, and land-use change could be intensifying these conflicts. The multi-species and mountainous landscapes seem prone to conflicts due to a lack of territory planning. These complex, dynamic, and multi-layered conflicts require a multidimensional approach. Currently, in Chile, mountainous landscapes have several threats, such as a lack of territory planning, mega-mining projects, and recently (last 10 years) the effects of the Mega-drought. Many transhumant agropastoralists have been forced to quit their livelihoods while increasing livestock-wildlife conflicts. We aim to build territorial planning within a holistic approach to strengthening the agropastoralists' competence to coexist with local wildlife (puma, condor, and guanaco) in Central Chile's Andes mountains.MethodologyWe conducted participatory mapping workshops with two agropastoralist communities in 2020. They were randomly divided into 4 to 7 people groups and told to draw a map representing their territory, including four elements: (1) natural and human components of the landscape, (2) natural wildlife conflict areas, (3) active grazing areas, and (4) their ideal future scenario, regarding their activity.FindingsResults showed different spatial perceptions of the natural and human components of the territory. All agropastoralists (100%) indicated similar wildlife conflict areas: focusing in the Summerlands. All agreed that Mega-drought was the primary threat to their production, increasing the conflict with wildlife. Summerland areas are identified as suitable areas for working in conflict with wildlife.Research Limitations/ImplicationsThis study highlights the need for a multidimensional approach to conflict and territory planning to address conservation conflicts. The study's implications show that agropastoralists decided to reduce Summerland use and improve Winterland planning to increase livestock productivity and reduce conflict with wildlife. Participatory mapping could help to prioritize areas to mitigate conflicts with wildlife.Originality/ValueThis study is the first in the Aconcagua valley to conduct a transdisciplinary & participatory approach toward coexistence between transhumant agropastoralists and wildlife. It also provides a baseline for similar schemes in semi-arid and mountainous landscapes worldwide facing rapid climate shifts and increasing human-wildlife conflict.

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“…Together with the EFM, the Green Criminology has the task of analyzing all the criminal processes connected to the natural environment [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. The green criminology addresses forms of crime that harm the environment, but that are often ignored in the mainstream criminological research [ 40 ].…”

Section: Environmental (Green) Criminologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Environment, Environmental Crimes, Environmental Forensic Medicine, Environmental Risk Management and Environmental Criminology

et al. 2022

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Forensic medicine has always held the human environment, either seen as a source for pathological agents or the background of judicial events, in great consideration. The concept of the environment has evolved through time, expanding itself to include all the physical and virtual sub-spaces in which we exist. We can nowadays talk of technoenvironmental reality; virtual spaces exploded because of the COVID-19 pandemic making us come to terms with the fact that those are the places where we work, where we socialize and, even, where we meet our doctors and can be cured. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has contributed to shaping new virtual realities that have got their own rules yet to be discovered, carved and respected. We already fight a daily battle to save our natural environment: along with the danger of green crimes, comes the need for environmental justice and environmental forensic medicine that will probably develop a forensic branch and an experimental branch, to implement our technical culture leading to definition of the real dimension of the risk itself to improve the role of legal medicine in the Environmental Risk Management. While green criminology addresses widespread green crimes, a virtual environment criminology will also develop, maybe with a contribution of AI in the justice field. For a sustainable life, the environmental revolution must rapidly take place, and there is the need for a new justice, a new forensic medicine and a new criminology too.

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Connections between trades and trafficking in wildlife and drugs

Cited by 27 publications

References 47 publications

Review: Wildlife forensic genetics—Biological evidence, DNA markers, analytical approaches, and challenges

Review: Wildlife forensic genetics—Biological evidence, DNA markers, analytical approaches, and challenges

Coexistence in Times of Climate Crisis: A Participatory Mapping to Understanding Conservation Conflicts in the Central Andes of Chile

Environment, Environmental Crimes, Environmental Forensic Medicine, Environmental Risk Management and Environmental Criminology

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