Community Voices: Local Perspectives on International Responses to Illegal Wildlife Trade
On 10 October 2018 IIED, IUCN and TRAFFIC partnered with FFI and ZSL to organise a meeting that brought together people who live side by side with wildlife to provide them with an opportunity to voice their opinions of current efforts to combat IWT – and in particular on progress in implementing commitments made to date. The meeting provided an opportunity for participants to meet each other and exchange experiences and increase their voice in international IWT policy-making.
The event focussed on community perspectives of what works, what doesn’t and why in terms of community engagement in combating IWT. In the morning, community representatives shared their experiences of different strategies for tackling IWT.
In the afternoon, the community representatives held a closed session to reflect on the international commitments that have been made to date, the extent to which these have been implemented and the extent to which additional actions may be required. They agreed a set of key messages for the London Conference which were presented by Dickson Ole Kaelo, CEO of the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association in the first panel session during the conference plenary on day one. A video of the panel session is available.
The event was attended by 32 community representatives from 15 countries as well as 79 participants from community support NGOs, donor agencies and academia.
Related links
Call to community representatives for expressions of interest in participating (PDF)
Community Voices: local perspectives on international responses to illegal wildlife trade, event report
Turn up the volume: community voices on illegal wildlife trade, IIED blog
London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade (October 2018): Declaration, GOV.UK Policy paper