Mapping Terra Incognita: An Expert Elicitation of Women's Roles in Wildlife Trafficking

Abstract

The gender dimensions of wildlife trafficking remain understudied even though the problem is of great socio-environmental significance. Data about the roles of women in wildlife trafficking offer critically needed indicators that can contribute to building evidence and setting targets for, and monitoring progress of, sustainable and equitable futures. We set three objectives for this research filling a major gap in conservation knowledge: (1) explore expert perceptions of primary roles that women may play in wildlife trafficking, (2) explore expert perceptions of secondary roles that women may play in wildlife trafficking, and (3) explore variability in roles for women in wildlife trafficking. We used an online survey to conduct expert elicitation in February 2020 to achieve objectives. Experts (N = 215) identified key assumptions associated with six primary and 32 secondary roles for women in wildlife trafficking. Results highlight the impacts of wildlife trafficking manifest in varied contexts across society, including persons harmed at local levels such as family members in general, widows and orphans. The perceived roles of women in the wildlife trafficking networks may be factored into transformative solutions to help combat wildlife trafficking and data from expert elicitation can inform future hypotheses and inferences on this topic of broad socio-environmental significance.

Turning the tide on big cat trade: Expert opinion on trends and conservation lessons from the Republic of Korea

“…The 38 individuals contacted were provided with a copy of the questionnaire, in Korean or English, and were given time to consider whether they had any relevant information on the topics covered. Of these, 14 respondents provided informed written consent to take part in the study, which met the typical sample size requirements for expert elicitation [ 37 , 39 ]. 16 respondents declined to participate, stating that they did not have sufficient information on big cat trade in South Korea to do so; 8 individuals did not respond or were unable to do so within the time constraints of this study.…”

“…Particular care should be taken given the relatively small expert pool that was available to draw from, encompassing varying backgrounds and levels of expertise [ 40 ]. Nevertheless, this approach remains a valuable way to gather preliminary information on illegal trade, as a complex and dynamic system, where information is scarce and often reliant on sporadic, informal reports [ 34 , 35 , 37 ]. In order to substantiate perceptions of trade reported by respondents, we asked for any supporting evidence that they were able to provide.…”

“…We conducted an expert-based questionnaire survey between October 2022 and March 2023 to document informed opinion and associated evidence of trade in big cats, their body parts and derivatives in South Korea since 1994. Expert elicitation using a structured questionnaire survey or interviews is a commonly utilised research technique for gathering information on illegal wildlife trade [34][35][36][37], because it can be used to collect information from grey literature that may not appear in formal reports or publications, and can be used to ascertain expert opinion on the reasons behind observed trends. Given the lack of experts on big cat trade in South Korea specifically, experts consulted came from broader relevant areas of expertise, namely big cat ecology and conservation, wildlife trade policy (including CITES implementation), customs administration (specifically animal import or export), law enforcement, and captive animal regulation.…”

Central Asia: Exploring Insights on Gender Considerations in Climate Change

“…The chosen approach is beneficial for this study because it provides an opportunity to gather and synthesize diverse views, particularly in the fields where data are limited or even not available, which may lead to severe challenges [101]. The approach is among the key elements used across various fields, including women roles and climate change adaptation and projections [102][103][104].…”