Environmental crime crisis: threats to sustainable development from illegal exploitation and trade in wildlife and forest resources a rapid response assessment

Format:

Corporate Author:

United Nations Environment Programme

Author:

Christian Nellemann (editor)

Publisher:

UNEP

This report focuses on the far-reaching consequences of the environmental crime phenomenon we face today. The situation has worsened to the extent that illegal trade in beyond strictly environmental impacts - by seriously undermining economies and livelihoods, good governance, and the rule of law. Even the security and safety of countries and communities is affected: the report highlights how wildlife and forest crime, including charcoal, provides potentially significant threats such as finance to militias and terrorist groups. Already recognised as a grave issue in DRC and Somalia by the UN Security Council, the assessment reveals that the scale and role of wildlife and forest crime in threat finance calls for much wider policy attention, well beyond thiose regions.