United for Wildlife commits to tackle the Illegal Wildlife Trade

The Duke of Cambridge will today join the United for Wildlife organisations at a symposium hosted by the Zoological Society of London to discuss the coordinated international effort that is required to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

The United for Wildlife collaboration, under the Presidency of The Duke, has an extensive international field presence and a large network of collaborating institutions. It hopes to use this powerful global alliance to address both the supply and demand issues of illegal wildlife trafficking and also to support the sustainable development of affected communities and bring those involved in the illegal trade to justice. 

United for Wildlife has identified the following commitments as its key areas of focus:

•To strengthen site protection on areas that contain target species with the roll out of SMART technology (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) such as satellite nodes, ground sensors, GPS trackers and drones;

 •To reduce the demand of illegal trade products by working with Governments and other organisations, such as marketing experts and youth leaders, to encourage appropriate consumer messaging to those who buy rhino horn, ivory, tiger and pangolin parts and products;

 •To engage with the private sector to encourage a 'zero-tolerance' approach towards the illegal wildlife trade. This may include working with businesses that may be unwittingly drawn into the trade chain;

 •To support the judiciary and local authorities in their efforts to fight wildlife crime;

 •To support local communities, whose livelihoods are directly affected by the illegal wildlife trade.

This unprecedented collaboration of seven of the most influential field-based organisations and the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will bring together some of the world’s largest environmental bodies and harness the resources and expertise of global leaders in business, communications, technology and the creative industries to tackle this universal challenge.