Aviation commits to combating wildlife trafficking
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The aviation industry has signed a commitment to tackle the illegal trafficking of wildlife.
The declaration, signed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI), the African Airlines Association and a number of individual carriers, will support the ‘United for Wildlife’ initiative, which has been created by the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
This commits the aviation industry to raising awareness of the trafficking among passengers and training staff to recognise and report suspicious packages and behaviour.
The initial focus will be on the trafficking of high-risk protected animals, specifically big cats, pangolins and ivory products, on high-risk routes – particularly those originating from or transiting through East Africa.
“Today marks a step forward for environmental protection – a commitment that we take very seriously,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general & CEO. “In the 1990s the industry came together to address noise. More recently we joined forces to manage our impact on climate change, committing as an industry to carbon-neutral growth from 2020 and to cut net emissions to half the 2005 levels by 2050.
“We now extend that commitment to playing an active role in reducing illegal trafficking of wildlife. We will collaborate in support of government enforcement authorities to put an end to this evil trade,” he added.
The air transport network is currently being exploited by criminal gangs to smuggle animals or their products from the killing fields to the market place. Much of the demand for wildlife products comes from East Asia.
This declaration compels the air transport industry to help stop this trade by providing additional intelligence to authorities about suspicious shipments.
Qantas, which has signed the declaration, called it a “significant step towards ending the trade in illegal wildlife transportation”, while Etihad Airways said it would “help shut down routes exploited by traffickers”.
Cooperation with enforcement agencies and conservation organisations such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has already begun. Two workshops for airline and airport staff were recently held in Nairobi and Bangkok and new guidance materials for airlines have been published. IATA has also set up an ‘Environment Committee Wildlife Taskforce’ to monitor progress.
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