Combating Wildlife Crime linked to the internet: global trends and China's experiences

Combating Wildlife Crime Linked to the Internet: Global Trends and China’s Experiences notes how, over the past decade, China’s law enforcement authorities, in particular, the Forest Police, have been increasing efforts to crack down on wildlife crime linked to the internet， including a number of targeted operations and co-operation with internet service providers, such as Tencent, Alibaba and Sina Weibo.

The study also reviews the policies and measures used to address wildlife cybercrime in the EU, Kenya, the US, and several key international associations and provides suggestions of strategies going forward.

The document is particularly relevant to the ongoing discussions currently underway at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) conference taking place in Geneva, where TRAFFIC, WWF and IFAW drew Parties’ attention to the creation of The Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, launched in March 2018 to unite online technology companies globally with a goal to reduce wildlife trafficking online by 80% by the end of 2020.

The Coalition currently has 34 partner companies, including some of the most recognised names from e-commerce, social media and online search engines including Alibaba, Baidu, eBay, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Microsoft, and Tencent.

Other online initiatives include the Global Wildlife Cybercrime Action Plan, launched at the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference hosted by the United Kingdom in October 2018.

The role of INTERPOL in supporting law enforcement efforts was also highlighted, although the limited funding and capacity available to support this work was noted as issues of concern.

Government Parties attending the CITES meeting were urged to fully support such initiatives to counter the ongoing scourge of online wildlife trade.