Addressing the Illegal and Unsustainable Wildlife Trade:
A 21st century global challenge
The illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade is a major and growing threat to biodiversity, and one of the highest valued illicit trade sectors in the world. Whereas many governments, researchers and practitioners recognise this threat to biodiversity, under appropriate circumstances legal and sustainable trade can also support and even enhance conservation. To date research within this field has been relatively uncoordinated, and robust monitoring and evaluation limited.
Our programme endeavours to address this huge societal challenge by making a step change in scientific understanding of how to tackle this threat, and by providing an international hub and collaborative network for interdisciplinary research into the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade.
This work supports global efforts to change people’s relationships with wildlife onto a new path; subverting the predictable continuation of wildlife decline as a consequence of human progress, towards a new and more sustainable future.