“Citizens must be part of the solution”: MinAmbiente on illegal wildlife trafficking

In Colombia, trade in wildlife species is mainly focused on illegally extracting specimens, which has generated imbalances in natural populations and has affected the deterioration of ecosystem dynamics.

The Ministry of Environment reported that between January and February 2022, 2,362 individuals belonging to 185 species of wildlife were released in the country, 525 of whom had been rescued in seizures for trafficking and illegal possession.

This portfolio indicated that the group with the highest number of releases in the first two months of the year was birds with 92 species (50% of the total species); the second group was reptiles, with 49 species (20%); mammals followed by 37 species; arachnids, four, and amphibians, with three, which were returned by Regional Autonomous Corporations (CAR) throughout the country.

As part of the institutional campaign to protect wildlife, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Carlos Eduardo Correa, invited citizens to join the fight against trafficking in fauna and flora.

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The official's statements were made at the Second High-Level Conference of the Americas on Illegal Trade in Wildlife, a space where actions and measures to curb biodiversity loss were discussed, which is, together with climate change and pollution, one of the three global environmental crises facing the humanity.

At the meeting, Minister Carlos Eduardo Correa added: “The call for citizens is to also be part of the solution. The State does public policy, does the controls and monitoring with the Police, the Public Force, the control bodies, we are all working. But it is also the responsibility and obligation of citizens not to buy this type of fauna; a parrot, a macaw are not pets, they are wildlife and by having this type of animal at home, we are affecting biodiversity and encouraging that traffic as well.”

Since the Environmental Crimes Act was passed in August 2021, trafficking in fauna and flora has become a crime. People who fall into this type of crime will be able to pay up to 12 years in prison.

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Among the regions where the distribution and marketing of wildlife specimens are coordinated, which are then sent to different departments of the country, are: Córdoba, Cesar, Amazonas, Putumayo, Vaupés, Guaviare, Meta, Valle del Cauca, Nariño and Choco.

Species such as macaws, parrots, monkeys, flamingos, toches, blackbirds, canaries, turtles, chigüiros, squirrels, among others, are among the most trafficked.

A few days before the beginning of Holy Week, the government official recalled that this is a time when there are many cases of illegal trafficking in species: “We also see that some citizens and tourists who travel on the roads buy parrots, eat iguana eggs or buy snacks to eat at this time of week Santa, and that's forbidden.”

In Colombia, illegal wildlife trafficking drives an illegal economy close to $23 billion a year, according to the National Police. In the world, this illegal economy moves between 20 and 40 billion euros.

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