Illegal trade in wildlife moves between 20 and 40 billion euros a year, said the Ministry of Environment

During the Second High-Level Conference of the Americas on the Illegal Trade in Wildlife, which was held in the department of Bolivar, with the participation of the United Kingdom and different Latin American countries, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Carlos Eduardo Correa, highlighted the importance of advancing concrete actions for to deal with wildlife trafficking and called for awareness to achieve this common purpose.

“The illegal trade in wildlife moves, annually, between 20 and 40 billion euros globally. This is one of the most profitable businesses on the planet and much of that wildlife traffic goes from our countries,” Correa said.

The head of the environmental portfolio called for action to address this scourge that today affects the planet's biodiversity. “Today we are seeing a triple crisis in the world: climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution. We are here to work on one of the actions that, if we unite together, will be lasting, and that is to stop the loss of biodiversity. We call for action, what are we going to do? We will all raise awareness, educate and work on the same purpose. We must teach citizens the natural heritage we have,” Correa said.

In addition, he stressed that Colombia has two valuable tools to combat the illegal trade in fauna and curb the loss of biodiversity: the Environmental Crimes Act, which criminalizes this crime with up to 12 years in prison, and Law 2153 of 2021, which created the Information, Registration and Monitoring System, which allows to control, prevent and prevent illegal trafficking of wild fauna and flora in Colombia.

For his part, Zac Goldsmith, UK Minister of Environment, stressed that “we are disrupting supply chains and working with the private sector. We are also helping communities build sustainable livelihoods so that they can prevent this wildlife trafficking. We need to keep moving forward and build on the progress of COP26, building a robust framework so that we can restore nature during this decade. If we continue to affect ecosystems, everything we want to achieve is going to get out of hand.”

In turn, Pierre Lapaque, director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that “at UNODC we reiterate our commitment to compliance with environmental law in the region to curb this serious scourge that threatens wildlife and sustainability.”

It should be noted that, according to the entity, in 2021, 18,636 individuals of fauna and 282,147 of flora were seized in Colombia, which represented 2325 captures. The departments in which this illegal practice occurred the most were Cundinamarca, Santander, Cordoba, Antioquia, Sucre, Bolívar and Atlántico. Among the most trafficked species of fauna are turtles, hicoteas, matamata, iguanas, babillas, canaries, parrots, blue-yellow macaw, spider monkeys, white-headed and white-faced marmosets, and flora, palms and guaduas.

Among the measures they have implemented to stop trafficking is the Binational Network for the Control of Illegal Wildlife Trafficking in Wildlife in the Ecuador-Colombia Border Integration Zone, and is advancing the construction of a strategy on the prevention, control and sustainable management of wildlife forest resources and hydrobiological systems in the Peru-Colombia Border Integration Zone, with the aim of strengthening the sustainable use of these resources.

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