Countries will henceforth publish annual reports on the state of their wildlife.
The adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly on July 30, 2015, committing all countries to revamp their collective efforts to end the global poaching crisis and tackle the vast illegal wildlife trade has been received with much joy by conservation Non-governmental Organisations.
The World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF, with its strategic partners like ECCAS and COMIFAC as well as conservation partners like the IUCN, TRAFFIC and WCS, welcomed the decision by the UN General Assembly. It tasks the UN Secretary General to present annual reports of global wildlife crimes and countries’ implementation of the resolution, together with recommendations for further actions beginning 2016.
The National Director of WWF, Dr Hansen Njiforti at a press conference in Yaounde on August 6, 2015, observed the seriousness of wildlife trafficking in Cameroon and Central African sub region, saying the rhinoceros was almost extinct while the elephant population is near extinction. He recalled how tons of Ivory were recently seized from poachers in Djom in the South Region, Gabon and at the border with Congo Brazzaville, besides the killing of over 200 elephants in the Bouba Ndjida in north Cameroon in 2012. As wildlife crime increases, so do the losses to economies of the sub-region as well as the terrific impact on ecosystems.
World bodies say “tackling the illicit trafficking in wildlife,” resolution, an initiative of Gabon and Germany and co-sponsored by over 70 other nations, including all countries in Central Africa, is recognition at the highest level that only a comprehensive approach can curb the current threats to elephant and rhinoceros populations. This affects livelihoods and jeopardizes security and sustainable development. The UN resolution highlights the transnational and organised nature of crimes that impact the environment and stresses the need for countries to counter corruption and address money laundering linked to wildlife.
