Wildlife Trade Symposium: Evolving Perspectives on the demand for illegal wildlife products

Discussion and conclusions from the symposium, with, Ming Lee, Principal Investigator, Sun Yat-sen University, Wildlife trade issues in China and Southeast Asia, Bob Smith,Director, Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), Naomi Doak, Head of Conservation Programmes, The Royal Foundation, E.J. Milner-Gulland, Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity, Oxford University, and Rosaleen Duffy, Professor, University of Sheffield

Panel discussion on theme 3 of the symposium. With Deborah Hembury, Rachel Ash, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Lixin Huang, American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Anastasiya Timoshyna, Programme Leader, Medicinal Plants, TRAFFIC.

Lixin Huang, American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, givesa talk for the symposium on traditional Chinese medicine and common misconceptions about it. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an ancient and profound healing art that originated more than 3,000 years ago. It comprises a number of therapeutic practices, among them Chinese acupuncture, herbology, nutrition, Taiji Quan and Qigong. All have long proven efficacy in treating a wide range of disease conditions. At the core of TCM is an understanding that the body, mind and human spirit are integrally connected, and that restoring and maintaining energetic balance are essential to health and well-being. What the Chinese people discovered through practical experience over many centuries is increasing being validated by modern science and medicine. Acupuncture and TCM has been practiced side-by-side with western medicine in China since 1960s. In US, many large hospitals have Chinese acupuncture to treat pain and various medical conditions. According to the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS), TCM doctors and practitioners provide medical services to their people in over eighty countries. China’s relationship with medicinal animals and plants spans at least 2,000 years. In ancient times, TCM healers lived in local villages and treated local people with medicinal animals and plants with little to no challenges. However, today, our world has an ever-growing human population with the biggest demand for natural resources yet. Among users of Chinese herbal medicine (the largest component of TCM), there are two major groups of users. The first being patients receiving prescriptions from TCM doctors with medical diagnosis; and the other being consumers purchasing products for traditional food therapies as 'nutrition' and/or as gifts from legal and illegal markets without medical advise from TCM doctors. To address the illegal wildlife trade, we need to understand the differences between the two consumer groups and to work together with the TCM medical profession in developing effective strategies to intervene and change consumers’ behaviour.

Anastasiya Timoshyna, Programme Leader, Medicinal Plants, TRAFFIC, gives a talk for the symposium on her research on sustainable wildlife trade. Wild plants are used in products consumed daily around the world, including food, medicines and cosmetics, often as ‘hidden ingredients’ that consumers and companies are unaware of due to the complexity of trade chains. This trade contributes to the livelihoods of millions of people, but many of the plant species used are under pressure from unsustainable harvesting and all too often the economic benefits are inequitably shared. Best practices for verifying wild collection sustainability are available, for example the FairWild Standard. Its implementation as a certification scheme (in India, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, Poland among others), as well as the best practice by industry (for example with the traditional Chinese medicine manufacturers and traders), and for policy frameworks by governments provide lessons learnt around the impacts of this work on trade chains. Looking into the future, a number of interventions are required to create a significant change in this business and to have an impact on the number of species and volume of wild-collected material in trade. These include a combination of increased incentives and pathways for businesses, communities and consumers to engage in responsible trade practices.

Panel discussion looking at theme 2 of the symposium. With Professor David Macdonald, founding Director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), Hollie Booth, Sharks and Rays Advisor, SE Asia Archipelago, WCS Indonesia, Michael ‘t Sas-Rolfes, fellow of the Oxford Martin Programme on Illegal Wildlife Trade, and P Siriwat, Oxford Brookes University

Panel discussion looking at the first theme's panel. With Kelly Malsch, Head of Species Programme, UNEP WCMC, Steven Broad, Executive Director, TRAFFIC, Elizabeth Davis and Joss Wright, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University.

Michael 't Sas-Rolfes, fellow of the Oxford Martin Programme on Illegal Wildlife Trade, gives a talk for the symposium on his research on South Africa's lion trade. Worldwide, wild populations of large felids are threatened by various factors, including harvesting for illegal wildlife trade. For certain species, such as the African lion, some legal harvesting and trade also takes place. Several African countries allow regulated commercial trophy hunting and South Africa allows the sale and export of lion body parts, notably lion bones, from captive-bred lions. Some believe that these continued commercial activities threaten wild lions, and even other felids, and must be banned altogether. Others disagree, warning that poorly conceived regulatory interventions can lead to accelerated uncontrollable illegal activity, as appears to have happened in cases involving other taxa. At last year’s CITES Conference of Parties, South Africa agreed to establish a variable annual quota of lion skeleton exports, subject to ongoing monitoring of potential impacts on wild lion populations. Given that it provides a potential window into illegal markets, monitoring of this legal trade presents a unique opportunity for novel wildlife trade research. However, it also presents South Africa with a conundrum, following the confounding effects of a 2016 US ban on lion trophy imports that originate from captive-bred animals. This presentation will discuss these opportunities and challenges associated with this controversial wildlife trade issue.

Hollie Booth, Sharks and Rays Advisor, SE Asia Archipelago, WCS Indonesia, gives a talk for the symposium on her research in Indonesia and the overexploitation of sharks. With rapid global expansion of fishing and trade in recent decades, coupled with conservative life history strategies making them particularly vulnerable to overfishing, sharks and rays are now one of the most threatened species groups in the world. Indonesia is at the heart of the coral triangle: the global centre of marine biodiversity. It is also the world’s largest shark fishery. For these reasons, Indonesia has been identified as a global geographic priority for conserving sharks and rays, including several species recently listed on CITES Appendix II. There is considerable momentum within Indonesia to improve conservation and management of sharks and rays, and The Wildlife Conservation Society is currently developing a cross-cutting program of work, which seeks to address the overexploitation of sharks and rays with multi-faceted interventions from point of supply to point of demand. However, implementing practical conservation measures in a country as large, diverse and under-resourced as Indonesia is incredibly challenging. This presentation explores findings from WCS Indonesia’s applied research and practical experiences to illustrate the complexity of shark conservation and the need for multi-faceted approaches that go beyond CITES listings and legality.

Joss Wright, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, gives a talk for the symposium on mapping the online illegal wildlife trade. The internet’s role as a platform for communication and commerce brings with it the potential for a range of criminal applications. As trade and payment systems have moved online, so have the means to advertise, discover, buy, and sell illicit products. In this talk, we will discuss the extent to which the illegal wildlife trade has emerged online, within the context of general online crime, and the implications of that move. We will examine the range of different platforms used in the online illegal wildlife trade, and discuss techniques for monitoring and analysis of these platforms. Finally, we will consider open questions in assessing the online wildlife trade, and how and where interventions might be most effective.

Elizabeth Davies gives a talk for the symposium exploring cultural values and preferences surrounding the illegal wildlife trade. Qualitative anthropological methods enable open-ended exploration of cultural values and preferences of wildlife products. Ranging from guided walks to key informant in-depth interviews and participant observation, qualitative methods compliment standardised and quantitative approaches to better understand complex human motivations and preferences for multiple actors. These approaches can help the researcher understand how traditions and values drive decisions to use different animal products for various medicinal, status, in-group membership or other reasons, which may not become apparent or fully understood through standardised quantitative approaches alone. Some key things to consider when planning and developing a qualitative research approach include: In what places and through which methods could you talk to illegal wildlife users or sellers? Who are the key influencers to talk to in this trade? Who should ask the research questions? How can you elicit and gage honesty of responses about people’s opinions and behaviours? Examples are provided from the bushmeat trade in Central Africa and the bear bile trade in Southeast Asia. NOTE: Elizabeth Davies is standing in for Shannon Randolph, who was the advertised speaker, as she is no longer able to attend due to extenuating circumstances.

Steven Broad Executive Director, TRAFFIC, gives a talk for the symposium on creating and catalysing social and behavioural change. In recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the value of applying behavioural science for conservation goals. Approaches from fields such as social marketing, Social and Behavioural Change Communications (SBCC) and behavioural economics, are now being considered alongside those from private sector media, marketing and advertising, as valid tactics to employ, in tackling markets for illegal wildlife products, or promoting responsible consumption and markets for sustainably traded products. This talk will explore some of the evidence, experience and examples relevant to this, as well as success factors, lessons learned and insights arising. It will also introduce some of the Tools, reference materials and interactive ‘services’ available to members of the SBCC ‘Community of Practice’ convened by TRAFFIC, which includes 200+ of those with a stake, passion, interest or mandate in influencing wildlife product purchasing preferences and buyer behaviour. Aspects of the talk will also introduce topics that form a focus for the ‘Expert Roundtable on Impact Measurement’, and ‘Changing Business Sector Behaviour workshop’, in subsequent days of the Symposium. NOTE: Steve Broad is standing in for Gayle Burgess, who was the advertised speaker, as she is no longer able to attend due to extenuating circumstances.

Kelly Malsch, Head of Species Programme at UNEP-WCMC introduces herself as the moderator for the first theme of the day, Diverse approaches to illegal wildlife trade research, as well as the speakers who will present.

E.J. Milner-Gulland, Co-Director of Oxford Martin Programme on the Illegal Wildlife Trade welcomes delegates to the programme's first symposium, co-hosted by San Diego Zoo Global and TRAFFIC. Introduction to Open Space: Jenny Glikman Open Space is a convening facilitation process to create dialogue and bring together people with common interests, questions, ideas etc. Throughout the symposium, there will be 3 different areas designated for Open Space, each based on a different component or theme from the first day. Jenny Glikman introduces this technique and explains to delegates how to participate, to make the most out of this opportunity.