US$3 million boost from Arcadia to support TRAFFIC’s work on Africa’s threatened wildlife
Johannesburg, South Africa, 27th October 2020—TRAFFIC announced today it has received an additional grant of $3 m from Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. The grant will support TRAFFIC’s work over the next five years to reduce illegal and unsustainable trade in Africa’s wildlife through the a second phase of the project Reducing Trade Threats to Africa’s wild species and ecosystems (ReTTA). The latest award brings the total committed by Arcadia for this work to US$6 million over the period 2016–2024.
The trade in wild species and products from Africa to Asia has reached unprecedented levels in recent years, threatening several species with extinction, while the organised crime associated with trafficking in wildlife, animal parts, and plants also has far-reaching implications for human livelihoods, biodiversity, and governance.
Despite intensive efforts from a wide range of NGOs and law enforcement agencies, the illegal trade and unsustainable harvesting of wild species is escalating and is now accepted as a global conservation crisis.
We will use this additional support from Arcadia to build on the innovative interventions and successes achieved in the first phase of the ReTTA project and continue to tackle the numerous and complex trade issues that threaten Africa’s wild species,
TRAFFIC’s Executive Director Steven Broad.
Significant achievements emanating from the project so far include new insights into shark fisheries in the Republic of the Congo which will result in the co-development of a National Action Plan for Sharks with the Congolese government, illuminating the murky world of abalone trafficking, exposing the new practice of processing rhino horn in Africa, and improved understanding of those convicted of wildlife crime to understand their motivations to help improve solutions to prevent poaching and illegal trade.
The new grant will help to expand data gathering and analysis of vital wildlife trade knowledge, continue engagement with those best placed to take remedial action, and continue to develop and promote some of the potentially game-changing solutions that TRAFFIC has initiated in the past four years.
About Arcadia
Arcadia helps people to conserve and restore nature, record cultural heritage, and promote open access to knowledge. Since 2002 Arcadia has awarded more than $1.2 billion to organizations around the world.
