Significance

Abstract

Significance—The illegal wildlife trade presents a number of threats to a number of different aspects of societies and communities around the world. These aspects are environmental, economic, human well-being, and national security. Environmentally, wildlife trafficking threatens biodiversity through the extinction of the species that are trafficked; by the introduction of invasive species that can then outcompete native species, again leading to extinction; and through the introduction of diseases that might be transmitted to native wildlife, once again possibly leading to extinction. Extinction is problematic not only for the loss of life of that species, but also because the loss of one species can lead to the instability of the ecosystem and in the case of timber greatly impact upon climate change. Economically, wildlife trafficking can threaten natural resources and agricultural industries when invasive species and diseases are introduced that then damage the livelihoods of people in those sectors, profits of companies, and income from taxes of governments. Human well-being in addition to being damaged economically through the illegal wildlife trade can also be physically threatened through the introduction of zoonotic diseases from unregulated wildlife, such as the coronavirus possibly from bats, SARS from civet cats, and Ebola from monkeys. Finally, national security can be threatened by the illegal wildlife trade because of the illegal wildlife trade’s connection to corruption, organised crime groups, and to a much lesser degree to terrorism and insurgency. These all are known to challenge the rule of law and sovereignty of various countries around the world. This combination of risks and threats in multiple aspects of society is why the illegal wildlife trade needs to be targeted for concerted efforts to curb the amount of wildlife that fuels this black market.