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Traffic (conservation programme)

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TRAFFIC
The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network
Formation1976
TypeInternational non-governmental organization
Location
  • Cambridge, UK
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsTraffic Bulletin, Various reports
ServicesWildlife trade, Conservation
Key people
  • John A Burton, first Director
  • Rick Scobey, current Executive Director
Employees~140 (2019)
Websitewww.traffic.org

TRAFFIC (Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce), also known as the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network, is a global non-governmental organization monitoring the trade in wild plants and animals. TRAFFIC focuses on preserving biodiversity and sustainable legal wildlife trade while working against unsustainable illegal wildlife trade. It was originally created in 1976 as a specialist group of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and evolved into a strategic alliance of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the IUCN.[1]

History

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1990s

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The critically endangered black rhinoceros is a focus of TRAFFIC's conservation efforts

TRAFFIC established 13 more offices worldwide in Europe (1990), East/Southern Africa (1991), and East Asia (1994). The organization focused on trade issues including tiger, agarwood, and rhino, leading to the establishment of The Bad Ivory Database System (BIDS), the foundation for the ETIS (Elephant Trade Information System).[2] TRAFFIC's first major initiative in Africa investigated the decline of the black rhino, which was facing serious threats from poaching and continued horn trafficking. In an effort to track all rhino horn in circulation, TRAFFIC established the Rhino Horn and Product Database. The database provided a valuable source of information for government and private sources to regulate rhino horn trade and has since been expanded to include data from 54 countries.

2000s

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Snakes smuggled in a speaker, the type of animal trafficking TRAFFIC tries to cease

TRAFFIC expanded into what is now referred to the "green stream," an effort to promote sustainable wildlife trade rather than focusing only on unsustainable trade. In 2007, TRAFFIC, the WWF, IUCN, and BfN launched the International Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP) for sustainable wild collection of medicinal and aromatic plants.[3]

2010s

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Ivory tower of tusks from poached elephants

TRAFFIC began to incorporate more social and economic responsibility into its work, empowering communities whilst promoting sustainable wildlife trade. In 2011 a project was launched with indigenous women in the Amazon to promote sustainable trade and provide alternative sources of income to the unsustainable harvest of bushmeat. A partnership was established between TRAFFIC, the Association of the Waorani Women of the Ecuadorian Amazon, and the chocolate company WAO Chocolate[4] that won a UNDP award in June 2014.[5]

Post 2010, TRAFFIC began to embrace the concept of making wildlife trade sustainable through behavioral change. In 2014, TRAFFIC helped launch the Chi Initiative in Vietnam, one of the biggest consumers of rhino horn products, to preserve declining rhino populations.[6]

Achievements

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Bad Ivory Database (BIDS) and Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), 1992

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The Elephant Trade Information system (ETIS) is an information system that tracks illegal trade in ivory and other elephant products.[7] Managed by TRAFFIC on behalf of CITES, it contained nearly 20,000 records from around 100 countries by 2014. ETIS originated from TRAFFIC's BIDS, set up in 1992 to track law enforcement records from ivory seizures or confiscations around the world beginning in 1989.[8]

EU-TWIX, 2005

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TRAFFIC, the Belgian Federal Police, Belgian Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Management Authority (CITES MA), and Belgian Customs set up and maintain a wildlife database and information exchange platform known as the EU Trade in Wildlife Information Exchange (EU-TWIX).[9] Operational by 2005, it centralizes data on seizures submitted by EU enforcement agencies, by 2010 holding over 31,000 seizure records and having an active membership of over 500 law enforcement officers from all EU member states.[10][11]

Current programs since 2017

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TRAFFIC implemented the USAID funded Wildlife-TRAPS project that operates in Africa and Asia to combat illegal trade between the two continents.[12]

TRAFFIC provided training modules through the ROUTES Partnership.[13]

Wildlife regulations

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Drafting EU wildlife regulations

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In 1992, TRAFFIC published "The wild plant trade in Europe: Results of a survey of European nurseries",[14] a major study on plant trade that recommended harmonizing legislation within the EU. TRAFFIC used the study to initiate a project with WWF the following year to work on improving EU wildlife trade regulations, with the new regulations taking effect in 1997.[15]

UN Resolution on Protecting Wildlife

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In 2012, TRAFFIC and the WWF launched a joint global campaign encouraging governments to combat illegal wildlife trade and reduce demand for illicit products from endangered species. The campaign's momentum led to the unprecedented success of the first UN resolution on wildlife crime in 2015.[16][17]

Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP), 2007

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Biodiversity around the globe is rapidly declining due to including overexploitation, habitat loss, and other threats. Since prehistoric times, the majority of the human population has relied on between 50,000 and 70,000 wild plants for traditional medicine.[18] Today, most medicinal plants are still collected from the wild rather than captive grown, contributing to the crisis. WHO (World Health Organization), WWF, IUCN, and TRAFFIC all worked together to create an international wild plant collection standard for governments and businesses worldwide.[18]

Bushmeat, 2000

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TRAFFIC drew attention to the unsustainable use of bushmeat in its 2000 study "Food For Thought: the utilization of wild meat in eastern and southern Africa".[19] Its findings, including the fact that the previously taboo species of zebra was being increasingly harvested, led to widespread publicity, including an IUCN report.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TRAFFIC". Iucn.org. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  2. ^ "The Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) - CITES". Cites.org. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Gender, economic alternatives, and food sovereignty: Political strategies to bring about positive change to reduce commercial hunting in Yasuní" (PDF). Cbd.int. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  5. ^ "AMWAE/TRAFFIC project wins prestigious UNDP award - Wildlife Trade News from TRAFFIC". Traffic.org. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  6. ^ "'Strength of Chi' Campaign". Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  7. ^ "ETIS". www.etis-testing.org. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Foreword by CITES". 1 July 2018. doi:10.18356/b807611e-en. S2CID 240461980. Retrieved 15 October 2023. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ http://www.sizp.sk/doc/cinnost/priroda/spolupraca/traffic_pub_enforce5%5B1%5D.pdf [dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Landmark for EU-TWIX - Wildlife Trade News from TRAFFIC". Traffic.org. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Illegal Wildlife Trade and the European Union : An analysis of EU-TWIX seizure data for the period 2007-2011" (PDF). Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  12. ^ "USAID "Wildlife Traps" Program Launched to Ensnare Illegal Wildlife Traffickers | U.S. Agency for International Development". Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  13. ^ "Airline Industry in South Africa and Vietnam Increase Efforts to Stop Wildlife Trafficking — ROUTES". Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  14. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ "TRAFFIC: Trade Enforcement". 9 February 1999. Archived from the original on 9 February 1999. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  16. ^ "UN adopts resolution on tackling wildlife trafficking - Wildlife Trade News from TRAFFIC". www.traffic.org.
  17. ^ "United Nations Official Document". www.un.org.
  18. ^ a b Leaman, Danna J. (2006), "Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Development of an International Standard", Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 97–107, doi:10.1007/1-4020-5449-1_7, ISBN 978-1-4020-5447-1, retrieved 15 October 2023
  19. ^ Barnett, Rob, ed. (1997). Food for thought: the utlilization of wild meat in Eastern and Southern Africa (PDF). Nairobi, Kenya: Traffic East/Southern Africa. ISBN 9966-9698-0-2.
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