| A Review of Expert Opinion on Economic and Social Drivers of the Wildlife Trade and Trade Control Efforts in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam | | | | | October 7, 2008 — A report just released by the World Bank andTRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, examines what factors influence wildlife trade in south-east Asia, and in particular trade that is illegal and/or unsustainable. Most experts pointed to the rising affluence in consumer countries in Asia as a major driver of demand for wildlife products in the region, rather than to poverty within the countries considered. Experts believed that all of the approaches used, including regulating harvest and trade, increasing consumer awareness of the problems of illegal and unsustainable trade, and providing people depending on trade with alternative sources of income, were effective in some situations. However, there was no single approach that emerged as being the most effective, with multiple approaches being applied in many instances. Experts consulted during project workshops highlighted the importance of enforcing existing regulatory trade controls, which were found by the study to have increased in the region, and to use a variety of approaches simultaneously. The study also showed that experts believed that approaches such as support for traditional practices and market-based approaches such as certification were often highly effective when applied, but have received less attention to date.
TRAFFIC, working in collaboration with other IUCN programmes, carried out the study on behalf of the World Bank by consulting more than 80 experts regarding the wildlife trade in four south-east Asian countries—Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam, to gather their insights. The experts included individuals working for conservation organizations, government staff, and independent researchers. The study was funded by the World Bank-Netherlands Partnership Program.
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| These issues emerged from the results of the survey of expert opinion that was carried out as part of the study: Gaps in information about the wildlife trade
Beliefs regarding the importance of different drivers and the effectiveness of different intervention types vary among wildlife trade experts. While this may reflect the spectrum of experiences concerning species, product type, harvest site, and other factors, it may also point to a wider lack of clear evidence of generalised traits. The impacts of illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade
There was a high level of consensus among experts that the abundance of traded species in the wild had declined over the past decade, confirming the findings of the large body of data and literature that draws attention to alarming rates of loss of commercially valuable biodiversity in the region as a result of overexploitation and trade. The effectiveness of interventions to control illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade
Many of the interventions that have been employed to control illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Vietnam are believed to have been at least partially successful, although beliefs on the level of effectiveness varied among experts. However, based on survey responses and information from the literature, assumptions made about economic and social drivers in the design of intervention approaches may in some cases be misplaced. Livelihoods as drivers
Efforts to reduce poverty, increase income and diversify livelihoods among rural communities were believed by experts surveyed to have relatively low impact on participation in harvesting wildlife for trade. Markets and prices as drivers
Both experts and literature consulted for this study considered rising affluence and increasing disposable income in consumer countries was a major driver of demand for wildlife in the region. Laws and regulations as drivers
The study found that the number of laws and regulations governing the wildlife trade in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Vietnam had increased over recent years, and that these often provided an effective mechanism for controlling illegal and unsustainable trade. However, law enforcement and broader governance conditions were considered to be the critical factors in determining their ultimate success and impact. Awareness as a driver
Experts consulted in this study underlined that interventions had showed relatively high degrees of success in raising awareness about the illegality and negative conservation impacts of the wildlife trade among harvesters, traders and consumers. However, improved awareness was not thought to have resulted in an equal reduction in the amount of wildlife harvested, traded and consumed illegally and unsustainably. Significant gaps in understanding remain about the links between awareness-raising and changes in the attitudes and behaviour of participants in the wildlife trade. Resource management practices as drivers
A range of resource management practices were reviewed in the survey of expert opinion (including species management plans, harvest controls, such as closed seasons and limits on technology, harvesting size and age of the species). For the most part these interventions were considered to have been at least somewhat successful in controlling illegal and unsustainable wildlife exploitation. Experts however noted that a weak information base about the multiple and complex factors influencing the sustainability of harvesting regimes, and about what levels and types of exploitation were sustainable in a given case, continued to act as a constraint to the effectiveness of these types of interventions. Download the Results from the Survey of Expert Opinion (483kb pdf) back to top
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| | Conclusions and Recommendations |
| Despite the evidence that, thus far, those seeking to stop illegal and unsustainable trade are, for the lack of better terminology, “losing the war”, there are also numerous examples demonstrating that individual battles are being won. The key motivation for this study was the desire to increase the number of battles being won, and, ultimately, to win the war, by improving the targeting and design of efforts to reduce illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade, bearing in mind both conservation and development priorities. This was based further on the recognition that resources to address illegal and unsustainable trade are limited, and therefore it is critical to consider how and where best to invest those resources to achieve the conservation and development aims of the people and countries concerned. Eight preliminary conclusions relevant to improving the effectiveness of interventions to reduce the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade in south-east Asia made on the basis of this review are provided below. The evidence base for wildlife trade interventions needs to be strengthened – there are needs both to improve available data and knowledge about the wildlife trade, and to make this information more practical, policy relevant and easily accessible to planners and decision-makers. Wealth appears to be a stronger driver of illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade in south-east Asia than poverty - interventions to reduce poverty alone are unlikely to be effective in reducing illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade. The design of wildlife trade interventions needs to take into account the broader conditions and trends that act to drive illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade – as well as considering the impacts of changing wealth status, efforts are needed to ensure that wildlife trade concerns and safeguards are integrated into trade and infrastructure expansion in the region. Laws and regulations stand little chance of success unless they are effectively implemented and enforced, and wider issues of governance are also tackled – a greater emphasis needs to be placed on enforcing the wide array of harvest and trade controls already in place. Non-regulatory approaches to controlling illegal and unsustainable trade, e.g. market-based interventions and support for improvements in resource management, are under-used – support needs to be given to efforts to manage wildlife harvest and trade sustainably and to help channel legally and sustainably produced goods to appropriate markets. Awareness efforts to reduce illegal and unsustainable trade need to be targeted to specific audiences and their effectiveness evaluated over time – greater understanding is required regarding how best to communicate to the various stakeholder groups involved in the wildlife trade to shift their behaviour away from illegal and unsustainable activities. Co-ordinated packages of mutually reinforcing interventions are required to address illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade in a more comprehensive manner – there is a need to better co-ordinate the design and application of different trade interventions along the trade chain. Increased policy attention and action is required if wildlife trade is to be brought within sustainable levels and conducted according to national and international trade controls – meaning that there is a need to shift the way in which wildlife trade is perceived, and to raise the priority that is accorded to the policies, interventions and resources that are targeted towards addressing it. Download theRecommendations and Conclusions (245kb pdf) back to top
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