Introduction: A key pillar of the Global Wildlife Program (GWP) is to enhance international donor coordination. To accomplish this, in 2016 the GWP established a coordination platform for international donors to share knowledge on their projects that combat illegal wildlife trade (IWT), discuss IWT related issues, and collaborate. To date, GWP organized six face-to-face meetings1 and ten virtual sessions2. These periodic meetings facilitated donor discussions on their respective IWT-initiatives, funding programs, and upcoming events. In 2016, the GWP collected data on over 1,100 projects from 24 international donors that served as the basis for the Analysis of International Funding to Tackle Illegal Wildlife Trade. This Analysis showed that from 2010-2016, over USD 1.3 billion was committed by international donors to combat IWT in Africa and Asia, equivalent to approximately USD 190 million per year. In 2017, the GWP created an e-Book to showcase this analysis in an interactive format and featured it in the WBG’s mobile data platform Spatial Agent. This analysis provided information on who, does what, where.
IWT Donor Working Group: In 2018, the GWP convened a working group to better understand how these international donor-funded projects were implemented and derive general lessons in the form of case studies3 The working group consisted of 11 donors: EC DEVCO (+ CITES implemented project), GEF, Germany, UK DEFRA, UNDP, USAID, USFWS, Vulcan, World Bank, WCS, and ZSL. The working group met 13 times and collectively developed 20 case studies covering all six IWT interventions4. The 20 case studies captured lessons from projects in 14 countries and six projects that were regional/global, covering various countries in Africa and Asia. Project leaders for several case studies presented on project activities, challenges, donor coordination, and lessons learned to the working group. Comparative analysis was completed to assess case studies across intervention types, geographies, and type of executing partner to identify lessons which can inform future investments. The 20 case studies will be published and disseminated through GWP communications channels, with 10 case studies showcased as interactive Story Maps. In addition, this analysis will be captured in the e-Book which will include the updated IWT Donor Portfolio Analysis (with 2018 data). The analysis captured below summarizes the general lessons learned, trends, and recommendations that donors can consider when designing and funding interventions to combat IWT.
Organization / Country | IWT FUnding (US$ millions) | Countries | Project Title | Key IWT Intervention |
EC / CITES | 0.4 | Central African Republic | Reducing the illegal killing of elephants and other wildlife species in Aires Protégées de Dzanga-Sangha, C.A.R. | LE/PA |
GEF / UNDP | 16.7 | Namibia | Strengthening the Protected Area System in Namibia | PL/LE/SL |
GEF / UNDP | 6.0 | Indonesia | Enhancing the Protected Area System in Sulawesi (E-PASS) for Biodiversity Conservation | PA/PL/RA |
Germany | 12.6 | Global | Combating Poaching and the Illegal Wildlife Trade (Ivory, Rhino Horn) in Africa and Asia (Polifund) | CA/PA/SL |
Germany | 0.2 | Africa | Biosphere Reserves as Model Regions for Anti-Poaching in Africa (BRAPA) | RA |
UK | 0.2 | Kenya | Technology and Innovation Against Poaching and Wildlife Trafficking | LE/RA |
UK | 0.3 | Malawi | Developing law enforcement capability in Malawi to combat wildlife crime | LE |
US | 8.0 | Asia (Thailand, Indonesia) | ARREST: Law Enforcement & Wildlife Enforcement Networks in Southeast Asia | LE |
US | 2.0 | China, Thailand, Vietnam | ARREST: Private Sector Engagement to Curb the Availability of Wildlife Products Online | CA |
US | 5.0 | Kenya | Resilient Community Conservancies Program (USAID Support to The Northern Rangelands Trust - NRT) | SL/PA |
Vulcan | 0.3 | Global | Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) | LE |
Vulcan | N/A | Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, and China | The Ivory Game | CA |
World Bank | 39.0 | Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan | Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection in Asia (SAWEN) | PA/PL/LE/SL |
World Bank | 8.0 | Mozambique | Mozambique Conservation Areas for Biodiversity and Development Project | PA/PL/LE/SL |
World Bank | 39.0 | Laos | Second Lao Environment & Social Project (LENS2) | SL/PA |
WCS | 1.7 | Indonesia | Indonesia's Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) | LE/PA/CA |
WCS | 0.9 | Republic of Congo | Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) in the Republic of Congo | LE/PA/CA |
ZSL | 4.4 | Cameroon, Kenya, Benin | Supporting and building capacity of law enforcement agents through Conservation Oriented Policing Skills | (C.O.P.S.) LE/PA |
ZSL | 4.0 | Nepal | Integrated solutions to combatting wildlife trafficking in Nepal’s Shivalik Hills | LE/PL/PA/SL/RA |
WBG MozBio project (#15) in Mozambique supported the amendment of Conservation law 056/2017 and publication of its regulation 89/2017 and revision of decree that created the national administration of conservation areas (ANAC) and regularized two tourism concessions as part of efforts to promote tourism in conservation areas
WCS WCU project (#17) in Indonesia involves collaboration with civil society to complement government efforts. In 2017, the WCU supported over one hundred successful sting operations, achieving a 95% conviction rate. In the Leuser landscape, covering Aceh and North Sumatra provinces, the WCU helped dismantle the tiger trafficking network and significantly reduced the killing of tigers.
GEF/UNDP Namibia Protected Area project (#2) contributed to improved PA management effectiveness across 98 percent of the PA network, stronger PA financing and investment, and more land managed for conservation and community benefits. The GEF/UNDP PA support in Namibia highlights the importance of effectively sequencing projects to generate large-scale impacts and secure long-term environmental benefits.
Germany Polifund project (#4) in Africa, China, and Vietnam reduced demand among mainly Asian consumers through target group specific campaigns. It launched a "Zero-Tolerance" campaign in partnership with Alibaba and other e-commerce. The campaign got retweeted 230,000 times within three weeks of launch. Cooperation with their security personnel led to continuous filtering and deletion of suspicious adds on e-commerce platforms, resulting in a drop from 50,000 adds per month in 2012 to 10,000 per month in 2013. Donor coordination for this project (USAID/UK) ensured complementarity and avoided duplication.
US Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT) project (#10) expanded economic opportunities for conservancy communities anchored in biodiversity and reduced wildlife trafficking across conservancies. In 2012, 112 elephants were poached for their ivory; in 2017, only 8 were poached, the lowest level in NRT conservancies in 10 years. Diversified tourism opportunities produce an average US$0.6 million income annually. As of July 2018, ecotourism revenue was up 20% over 2017 levels in NRT-supported communities, providing jobs and business opportunities and support for local social projects.
UK Technology and Innovation Against Poaching and Wildlife Trafficking project (#6) established a command, control and communication (C3) system including deployment of hardware and development of software. It deployed 47 smartphones, 5 tablets and training manuals servicing the rangers at Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary in Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park., The rhino population within Ngulia stabilized and even grew over the project period. This pilot project spurred interest from Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) leadership to expand the system to cover the entirety of Tsavo West National Park.