Illegal wildlife remains one of the biggest cargoes moving out of Africa, and freight forwarders are increasingly exploited by wildlife traffickers to move their shipments across the globe.
According to Nick Ahlers, USAID Wildlife TRAPS (Trafficking, Response, Assessment and Priority Setting) project leader, illegal wildlife trafficking is possibly one of the biggest hidden threats to supply chains around the world.
“Whilst there is a very large legal trade in wildlife from the everyday food we consume to an array of other products, it is also the fourth-largest illegal trade – amounting to an estimated $26 billion dollars a year,” he said. “It involves very organised crime syndicates using sophisticated smuggling techniques. Wildlife has been found to be a high value, low risk commodity for most of these syndicates and so there is a significant increase.”
Ahlers said the growing e-commerce environment was another critical factor with the illegal wildlife trade increasingly operating in open and online markets in the virtual world.
“It is a complete exploitation of legal transport providers and freight forwarders with the goods inadvertently being moved from one place to another by legitimate companies.” With demand on the rise, trafficking would just increase said Ahlers. Africa, with its array of wildlife, was a growing source for illegal wildlife syndicates fuelled by the conditions often encountered on the ground – such as political instability.
Ahlers said South Africa ranked eighth globally in wildlife trafficking through its air transport sector. In recent years it had been on the front lines of many large-scale illegal wildlife seizures, intercepting shipments of rhino horn, ivory and pangolin scales, among other commonly traded wildlife products. In 2017 wildlife trafficking seizures of rhino horn in air transport exploded, increasing three-fold from the year before. South Africa remained the most common origin country for illegally transported rhino horn.
He said not a single facet of transportation was not used in the movement of this illegal cargo, while syndicates would go to any lengths to disguise their cargo as legal goods, inadvertently making many companies complicit in their criminal activity.
“A recent container was found en route from Cape Town to Hong Kong with 33 rhino horns, 758 ivory chopsticks, and 127 ivory bracelets – yet the shipment was declared to contain 63 packages of scrap plastic.”
According to Ahlers many in the transportation, freight and logistics sectors were therefore recognising the need to take action against wildlife trafficking. But, he said, it was not an easy arena to make a difference as there were many layers of complexity. He said it was near impossible to distinguish between legally and illegally sourced lion bones or elephant tusks for example. According to Ahlers companies need to be aware of the dangers of wildlife trafficking.
“Any company can and will be prosecuted for not making enough effort to ensure that the shipments they are moving do not contain wildlife contraband.”
Any company can be prosecuted for not making enough effort to ensure that shipments do not contain wildlife contraband. – Nick Ahlers
South Africa is the most common origin country for illegally transported rhino horn.
