Page 78 - DRI ANNUAL REPORT EBOOK

Growing concerns
Over the years illegal wildlife trade has emerged as a form of organized Transnational Crime that has threatened the existence of many wild species across the globe. Almost all endangered and wild animals are traded, pushing many species to the brink of extinction and threatening entire ecosystems and their associated environmental services.
Once thought of as largely confined to Africa and Asia, wildlife trafficking has become increasingly prevalent all over the world, now ranking behind only drugs,
human, and arms trafficking as the most valuable type of international organized crime by estimated annual value. Wildlife trafficking’s rise has been supported by the world’s increasingly interconnected systems of finance, communication, and transport, which have brought once isolated source regions in remote areas closer and closer to large demand markets in North America, Europe, and Asia. There are also strong indications that other illicit trafficking activities such as human and drug trafficking are linked to the illegal wildlife trade and that profits from wildlife trafficking are funding terrorist and anti national activities.
As per the World Customs Organization, poaching of elephant, rhinoceros, pangolin, tortoises, turtles, birds and other wild fauna has been rising for the past sixteen years. A large part of this trade is meant for the international market. Seizure data show that most enforcement activities to combat international wildlife trafficking take place at ports of entry, rather than in domestic markets, and thus the Customs forms the front line of enforcement in many parts of the world.
The effective monitoring and control of transboundary movements is a key component of wildlife protection. In most countries, this task falls upon Customs which is at the forefront of efforts to counter wildlife trafficking and ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is practiced legally by implementing the provisions of the Convention on International Trade Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as well as relevant national legislation. Representing 179 Customs administrations around the globe, the World Customs Organization (WCO) has long been involved in combating illegal wildlife trade raising awareness of the issue among frontline Customs officers, organizing training to improve their targeting and identification capabilities, leading
international enforcement operations aimed at wildlife smuggling, and developing practical guidance in the form of various training resources.
India
Indian subcontinent is one of the richest habitats of rare species of wild fauna. Just 17 of the world’s 190 or so countries contain 70 percent of its biodiversity, earning them the title “megadiverse.” India is one of these megadiverse countries with 2.4% of the land area, accounting for 7-8% of the species of the world, including about 91,000 species of animals and 45,500 species of plants, that have been documented in its ten bio-geographic regions. Of these 12.6% of mammals, 4.5% of birds, 45.8% of reptiles, 55.8% of amphibians and 33% of Indian plants are endemic, being found nowhere else in the world. The region has always attracted the attention of conservation biologists and researchers.
Some significant work by the DRI Red Sanders
Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) or Red Sandalwood, is an endangered species of wild flora, endemic to the southern Eastern Ghats mountain range of
44 SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT 2019-20