Illegal wildlife trade and trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar criminal activity that is considered to be a transnational threat. Uganda has registered an upsurge in wildlife product trafficking since 2010, and this has increased further in the last five years. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) mandates that state parties develop sustainable and traceable mechanisms that would ultimately facilitate legal trade of wildlife specimens. One such core mechanism is to develop a unique CITES-based system of trade permits and certificates to facilitate compliance with the requirements of wildlife. In a bid to curb the prevalence of the illegal trade in wildlife species and in compliance with national obligations under CITES, Uganda has adopted an electronic permitting system to regulate trade in wildlife and wildlife products. Its primary objective is to improve the implementation of CITES by using modern information and communication technologies to simplify complaints on trade, tracking and prosecuting wildlife crime and to combat trafficking in wildlife species. The fundamental question, however, is whether the CITES electronic permit systems can effectively safeguard Uganda’s wildlife against illicit trade. The main objective of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of the system in quality data for permit application, including the desired bale species of flora or fauna to be traded, the destination of the trade, the fees payment, and a certificate that the species’ survival is not under threat. This article will further analyze how the information can be used for risk analysis; to improve the schedule of inspections; to record inspection results; and to assess the improved access to information and documented compliance of traders from the CITES electronic permitting system. This article will also provide recommendations on how the e-system can be strengthen to prevent illegal trade.

Wildlife justice is particularly pressing in Bangladesh, where forest and wildlife habitats face escalating threats from unlawful deforestation, killing, poaching, and wildlife trafficking. Although numerous national and international laws exist to save wildlife, they frequently prove useless. This article examines the obstacles to wildlife justice in Bangladesh as articulated by the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act of 2012, its implementation, and the challenges to adjudicating wildlife offences. Drawing from one author’s experience as a senior judicial magistrate in Bandarban Hill District and fieldwork and a review of the existing laws related to countering wildlife crime in Bangladesh, this article offers a comprehensive examination of legal deficiencies, including pre-trial to post-trial stages of wildlife crime cases. During the interaction with the Forest Case Conducting Officers (FCCOs) while imparting training for them and the trial of wildlife cases, the author observed the complexities of wildlife conservation and its legal frameworks in Bangladesh, which significantly motivated him to compose this article to elucidate the current intricacies of the legal mechanisms of wildlife justice in Bangladesh. The document delineates the lack of advancements in executing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for wildlife conservation. This interpretation yields practical recommendations for reforming the legal framework to enhance wildlife conservation in Bangladesh and to assure adherence to international standards. This article advocates reforms to attain wildlife justice and safeguard the nation’s rich biodiversity.

Adopted in 2022 by states party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Biodiversity Framework has been celebrated as a game changer in the international community’s efforts to address dangerous levels of biodiversity loss. Through a detailed analysis, this article argues that this optimism is unfounded, and instead the Framework will fail to halt the decline of the natural world. It begins by locating the Framework in its international legal context before critiquing its regulatory form, described as ‘global target, national action’. The remainder of the article provides a comprehensive assessment of the Framework’s 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and its associated global goals, and its 2030 Mission and the related 23 action-oriented targets. It concludes by offering brief thoughts on alternative directions international conservation law and policy could go in to address the biodiversity crisis.

Environmental degradation, particularly the irreversible decline of marine ecosystems and biodiversity, presents a significant global challenge that underscores the urgent need for marine environmental protection as an international obligation. This article seeks to address the understudied research question of whether the protection of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction constitutes an erga omnes obligation for all states, emphasizing the need to remedy the existing lacuna in ensuring responsibility, accountability, and liability toward current and future generations. To tackle this issue, the article analyses international responsibility and liability frameworks surrounding marine environmental protection, emphasizing the necessity for shared responsibility of the international community toward the marine environmental commons. In this context, we explore the implications of the Common Heritage of Humankind principle under the BBNJ Agreement and the contributions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in shaping these frameworks. The research findings will contribute to the discourse on marine biological diversity and genetic resources conservation for present and future generations by elucidating the imperative for robust liability and accountability frameworks capable of effectively addressing the devastating marine biodiversity decline.

Rapid response is an essential element in the management of invasive alien species. However, public administrative bodies often wait until the situation becomes serious. We examined what kinds of social factors contribute to rapid response in controlling invasive alien species, focusing on the yellow-legged Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax, hereafter V. velutina) in the UK and Japan. The UK and Japan had succeeded in preventing the establishment of V. velutina on their mainland. Both countries recognized the acute damage to economic activities and human health, in contrast to the incremental damage to biodiversity caused by invasive alien plants, such as water primrose (Ludwigia grandiflora). The UK learned about the serious situation caused by V. velutina in France and prepared a response before incursion of V. velutina in the UK, whereas Japan had not recognized the situation in France or South Korea before V. velutina occurred in Japan. The national governments of both countries played a central role. The UK has developed a collaboration between the National Bee Unit and beekeepers and their associations and has also developed an alert system through which the public can participate in surveillance. The Ministry of the Environment of Japan has collaborated with local governments and the private sector, including private hornet exterminators. The following factors contributed to the success of the rapid response to V. velutina: (a) state recognition of acute damage to economic activities and human health, (b) learning from abroad, (c) the central role of the national government, and (d) collaboration between national government and stakeholders.

Animals are an integral part of society and cohabit the world with the human race. The association between humans and animals dates from time immemorial, and therefore, the presence of animals and discourse about animals has influenced almost all dimensions of human life. From influencing so many dimensions of life, the discourse about animals has also permeated the sphere of law and justice. While the feeding of animals is a personal choice and act of compassion, historically there has been legislation in place that has not only precluded cruelty towards animals but also deemed feeding them to be a wider human duty of the humans. This article accordingly analyses the right to feed stray dogs vis-à-vis the provisions of the Constitution of India and recent pronouncements by the Indian judiciary to establish that this right is not only a subjective act of compassion, but a may be considered to be duty incumbent upon the citizens of India.

The maritime transport industry is experiencing rapid growth, but this also brings a number of drawbacks, particularly the issue of illicit wildlife trade and corruption on ships engaged in international maritime traffic. In response to the increasing challenges of wildlife trafficking on sea routes, various efforts and toolkits have been developed to enhance detection, prevention, and prosecution. During the 46th meeting session of its Facilitation Committee, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved the Guidelines FAL.5/Circ.50, which provide important guidance for prevention and suppression of the smuggling of wildlife through maritime transport. Vietnam has long been exploited by organized crime syndicates as a strategically located transport hub for the global wildlife trafficking. This article therefore aims to clarify the role of Guidelines FAL.5/Circ.50, and to assess the compatibility of Vietnam's current anti-wildlife-trade legislation with the IMO Guidelines, with a particular focus on the aspects of investigation and prosecution, and prevention and deterrence of corruption, thereby proposing legal and technical recommendations for Vietnam.

There are certain biases that characterize the global efforts to tackle wildlife crime, restricting their effectiveness. Firstly, wildlife crime is considered mainly a problem of developing source countries, while the role of developed consumer countries is largely ignored. Secondly, illegal trafficking and legal wildlife trade are treated separately, while the first is considered harmful to the environment and the latter is often considered tolerable, and even a conservational tool. In this study, we use the case study of Israel, a small, developed country with a solid legal framework to control the illegal wildlife trade. For the period between 2021 and 2023 we reviewed national and international laws and regulations from different sectors relevant to wildlife law enforcement. We monitored social media, online commerce platforms and instant messaging groups in order to assess online trade, and interacted with the wildlife authorities to assess their responses. We found six overarching legal themes: (1) species permitted for trade and possession; (2) trade and possession permits; (3) health permits; (4) animal welfare laws and regulations; (5) wildlife shows; and (6) general commerce and money laundering laws. Our results demonstrate that although there is a regulatory infrastructure which allows legal wildlife trade, the vast majority of the trade violates at least some of the related laws and standards. We also found biases in the authorities’ readiness to tackle different types of wildlife crime. Therefore, this study challenges the false dichotomy between legal and illegal wildlife trade and calls for further research and improved enforcement and control of authorized wildlife trade in developed countries.