First High Level Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in the Americas

The conference was the first regional meeting of the Americas on the issue of illegal wildlife trade (as a follow-up to the London International Conference held in 2018) and served as a platform to establish partnerships with the countries of the region and major transit and destination countries, for the prevention and coordinated control of illegal wildlife trade. Presentations included emerging issues such as the strengthening and harmonisation of legal frameworks and their enforcement; controls and regulations on wildlife trade; use of new technologies to combat illegal wildlife trade; and demand reduction through innovative and efficient communication mechanisms. Parties to the conference signed the resulting Lima Declaration (PDF).

The Lima Conference was attended by the vast majority of participants from the Community Voices event held earlier in the week. 

A plenary session on day two of the Lima Conference was led by Rosie Cooney, with presentations from community representatives from Peru, Colombia and Argentina. At the end of the plenary, Noemí Fernandez Saavedra read out a Community Statement.

A side event, also on day two of the Lima Conference and organised by IUCN SULi, was an opportunity for a further four community representatives from Bolivia, Peru and Guyana to present their examples of sustainably managing wildlife to reduce illegal wildlife trade.