Topic B: the Issue of Animal Poaching

Topic B: The Issue of Animal Poaching

United Nations Office on Drug and Crime

By: Cassidy Dekle

History and Parameters

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime the trafficking of wildlife is increasingly recognized as both a specialized area of organized crime and a significant threat to many plant and animal species. The World Wildlife Crime Report takes stock of the present wildlife crime situation with a focus on illicit trafficking of specific protected species of wild fauna and flora, and provides a broad assessment of the nature and extent of the problem at the global level. It includes a quantitative market assessment and a series of in-depth illicit trade case studies.

Introduction

Poaching is the illegal hunting, killing or capturing of animals. This can occur in a variety of ways; poaching can refer to the failure to comply with regulations for legal harvest, resulting in the illegal taking of wildlife that would otherwise be allowed. Examples include: Taking animals without a license or permit, use of a prohibited weapon or trap, taking animals outside of the designated time of day or year (i.e. hunting season if animal has one), and taking animals of a prohibited sex or life stage. Poaching can also refer to the capturing of animals from a wildlife sanctuary, such as national parks, game reserves, or zoos. The issue of animal poaching is an impending problem on the wildlife of the world. Animal poaching is a growing problem around the world, especially in areas in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Central America. Every day people are poaching animals such as Tigers, Elephants, Pangolins, Rhinoceroses, Tibetan Antelopes, Sea Turtles, Great Apes, Blue Whales, European Eels, Porbeagles, and Spiny Dogfish. Animals such as these are just more popular to poach, however a number of other animal’s face poaching everyday as well. Every one of these animals are poached for a number of different reasons but the most common reasons are, for money, medicinal purposes, jewelry, fur, meat, and trophies.

Even though animal poaching is a crime globally, each nation has their own set of laws and regulations to prosecute animal poachers and to protect those animals in danger. However, some nations have more lenient laws on animal poaching then others which can affect the safety of wildlife in certain countries. Striving to establish a global standard to protect all wildlife from illegal animal poaching, without impeding on the national sovereignty of any country, is of great concern for the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime.

History of Animal poaching

In the 1700’s in Europe the poor were struggling to survive, so they poached animals as their only way to obtain food and survive. The poaching got worse around 1765 as a result of the American Revolution because, many parts of west Europe were providing weapons, men, money and goods to either the American soldiers or the British soldiers, which included poached animals. Later on, in the 1800’s people were allowed to hunt small game (i.e. rabbits, squirrels, doves, turkeys, chickens, etc.). This was a turning point because poaching rates went down as an effect of some small game being taken off the illegal poaching list, allowing more animals to become readily available to hunters.

In the 1900’s the United States passed the Lacey Act which established howit is unlawful to import, export, sell, acquire, or purchase fish or endangered wildlife and plants that are taken, possessed, transported, or sold. This covers all parts of wildlife and fish, even their products too. This is protected by an organization called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In 1918 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was implemented. This makes it illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, any migratory bird, or their parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of having a valid permit issued by Federal regulations.

Deforestation also plays a large role in animal poaching. In the 1940’s Russia’s Siberian tiger population decreased by forty percent just as a cause of deforestation and hunting. Siberian tigers are poached for their fur, and their body parts are often used for medicine in a variety of nations, most prominently China. At the 1960’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) an international agreement was formed to protect animals in trade so that their survival is not threatened. CITES is an international agreement between governments; its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals, and plants does not threaten the survival of those species. CITES works very closely with the UNODC. In 1973 the Endangered Species Act provided conservation for threatened and endangered plants and animals in their respective habitats in an effort to keep populations stable and protected. Around this time people started to become more concerned with animals disappearing off the face of the Earth. In 1989 a global ivory ban was created by CITES in an effort to reduce poaching and stop the decreasing number of elephant populations. However, this didn’t help as much as expected; in 2006, elephant poaching spiked and 120 carcasses were found in a national park in Africa. In 2013, around 2000 dead pangolins, a very rare mammal, were seized from a fishing vessel headed towards China. The pangolin is one of the most trafficked animals in the world.

Effects of Animal Poaching

Animal poaching has many effects on the world. The most prominent is the decreasing animal population. From 2007-2014 there has been an 8000% decrease in the Rhino population. In the world today, there are about 3,200 wild tigers left, about 1,500 were killed by poachers throughout 2000 and 2012. Ninety% of Elephants were poached from 1970 until now. From 2013-2016 almost 20 tons of Pangolin scales were seized from illegal shipment, those scales were from 39,000 Pangolins. As these numbers rise a question emerges, what will happen to the food chain or better yet the world after these animals go extinct? Scientist has stated that humans will go extinct without Bees. So, what will happen without Elephants, or Tigers, or even Pangolins?

Another problem that has risen is the number of rangers that have been killed to allow poachers to have access to animals. Between 2000-2012, 1,425 Park Rangers or wildlife protectors have been killed by poachers. This means some poachers are not only killing animals they are also killing people. This makes those criminals even more dangerous.

In conflict zones animal poaching is even more frequent and violent than everywhere else. In conflict zones poaching is higher because criminals take advantage of the lack of government presence; they also take advantage of the lack of wildlife protection. Sometimes the profits from the poaching of wildlife in those areas go toward helping fund and fuel the conflict. Connections between poacher gangs and the Dominican Republic of Congo’s government have been found in the past.

Prior Actions

In 2013, The United Nations declared March third World Wildlife Day. The United Nations have done many things to try and better the situation of animal poaching. When the United Nations declared March third World Wildlife Day, it informed every nation and poacher that the United Nations was paying closer attention to the illegal capturing of animals and wildlife. This is a big success because it has drawn more attention to the problem at hand. More people can also help fund or campaign for the fight against poachers. The United Nations agrees that the issue is driven by the growing demand for illegal wildlife products, the illicit trade has in recent years escalated into a global environmental crisis, pushing several species to the brink of extinction.

The global effort to end illegal trade in wildlife boosted last year, as the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution urging member states to identify and classify illicit trafficking in wildlife as a serious criminal offence. This year, the UN calls for strong political commitments to be put into action through collective efforts of citizens and governments around the world. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has made massive progress to fight illegal trade in ivory through the preparation, implementation and review of National Ivory Action Plans by 19 key countries affected by the illicit trade.

In May 2015, the cross-continent Operation Cobra III brought together enforcement agencies from range, transit and destination countries, resulting in 139 arrests and more than 247 seizures, which included elephant ivory, medicinal plants, rhino horns, pangolins and many more. One of the larger concerns for United Nations on Drug and Crime, is breaking up well organized illegal poacher gangs. Well-organized commercial ivory poachers are involved in the trade in many Asian countries. Between 1989 and 2009, there were 55 tremendous ivory seizures, with an average volume of 2.3 tons of ivory. In the destination markets, these shipments were worth about $2 million apiece at the wholesale level.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the issue of animal poaching is an impending problem on the wildlife of the world. The definition of poaching is the illegal hunting, killing or capturing of animals. There are many animals on the brink of extinction because of poaching. The main reasons animals are poached is for money, medicinal purposes, jewelry, fur, meat, and trophies. These animals are struggling to keep their populations alive. The extinction of many species could lead to the extinction of the human race itself, and have untold consequences on the climate and environment around the world. Preventing animal poachers from illegally abducting wildlife is not a desire, it is a necessity for the future of the environment and life on earth. Striving to establish a global standard to protect all wildlife from illegal animal poaching, without impeding on the national sovereignty of any country, is of great concern for the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime.

Guided Questions

1.  How has animal poaching affected your country? Politically? Economically?

2.  What steps has your countries government taken at the national or international level to recognize the importance of animal poaching?

3.  What is your countries standing point on stopping animal poaching?

4.  Is your country in an area that is highly plagued with wildlife poaching?

5.  Is your nation involved with any treaties or agreements that are connected to the protection of wildlife? If so, how does that affect your position on the topic?

Works Cited

Allan, Crawford. "Illegal Wildlife Trade." WWF. World Wildlife Fund, 2017. Web. 28 July 2017.

Frontier. "The World's Most Poached Animals." HuffPost UK. The Huffington Post, 11 May 2017. Web. 15 July 2017.

Nancy.cao. "United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime." About UNODC. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2017.

Shadow, Simon. "History of Poaching." History of Poaching. SIMON SHADOW, n.d. Web. 2017.

"Timeline: A History of Poaching and Protecting Wildlife." Exotic Animals. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 July 2017.

Unodc. "Defining Transnational Organized Wildlife Crime." (2016): 1-3. 2016. Web. 16 July 2017.

UNODC. "Http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/WLC16_Chapter_2.pdf." (2016): 1-6. 2016. Web. 18 July 2017.

Valerie.prassl. "United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime." On World Wildlife Day UN Implores Urgent Action to End Poaching Crisis. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2017.

Letter from the Chair

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to the 2017 Old City Model United Nations. Hi, my name is Cassidy Dekle. This is my first year in the Model United Nations club. I will be co-chairing with Cameron Fallon on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. I am currently a sophomore at Pedro Menendez High School. I am in the International Bachelorette (IB) program. Some other clubs I am in are the Drama club and the HOSA club. I am currently the Under-Secretary General. Elizabeth Upton is my trainer and mentor. Even though this is my first year in the club Elizabeth has already taught me many things.

The topics of OCMUNC were picked for different reasons when it comes to each topic. The topic of animal poaching in this year’s UNODC council was picked because it is a very concerning topic for the world currently and there is so much to learn from it. Animal poaching is an impending problem as it could, in the future, affect our livelihood on earth. I am so excited for my first ever Old City Model United Nations. This is the fifteenth OCMUNC, and I think it’s going to be the best yet. I am excited to meet all of you. Your mission is to find solutions to both topics to help save the world!

Good Luck

-  Cassidy Dekle

Letter from the Secretary General

Dear Delegates,

My name is Elizabeth Upton and I am the current Secretary General of this dear ole conference, OCMUNC, and the club at Pedro Menendez High School. This is my second year as Secretary General, my fourth year in the club and sadly, my last. I am a senior in IB, and if any of you are in IB as well, you know the pain. I also work at chipotle, and NO, we don’t have E Coli. It’s the fifteenth year of OCMUNC! Making it the third oldest in the state of Florida, and older than a few of our members.

The topics for this year’s conference are significant in many ways, mainly because of the turmoil they have caused/ will cause throughout the world. Candy grams, the OG, are coming back again this year, proceeds dedicated to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which intertwines with our topic of Animal Poaching in our UNODC council. Although I know you guys don’t particularly enjoy spending the night before conference writing position papers, they are highly recommended but not required. This conference is going to be the best OCMUNC yet!! If you have any questions, concerns, or just want a new snap buddy, feel free to contact me at .

Peace out girl scouts, see you all at OCMUNC!!

- Elizabeth Upton

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