Press Release: Saving Wildlife through Multilateral Cooperation in Africa
20 December 2023: The impact of wildlife and forest crime across the African continent is significant and far-reaching. It degrades vulnerable ecosystems already fragilized by over-exploitation and rapid urbanization as well as weakens criminal justice systems. Organized criminal networks benefit from a lack of coordinated and harmonized response and exploit loopholes to engage in wildlife trafficking and illegal logging.
The transnational and constantly evolving nature of wildlife and forest criminal networks must be disrupted and dismantled through robust and joint law enforcement operations. Collaboration improves the sharing of information and intelligence and effectively tracks the movement of illegal wildlife and forest products while contributing to seizures and prosecutions.
Since 2020, UNODC has stood with the Government of Nigeria, offering crucial support in combatting wildlife crime.