FG, UNODC, others tackle wildlife, forest crime

AKOR SYLVESTER-ABUJA

The federal government, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the United States, United Kingdom and German governments have launched a national strategy to combat wildlife and forest crime in Nigeria (2022-2023).

Speaking at the launch of the strategy in Abuja, the minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, who officially launched the strategy, said the initiative had become necessary to curb the menace of wildlife crime.

The minister hinted that the fight against illegal trade in endangered species required concerted and collective action from states and across the nations.

He maintained, “Wildlife Crime syndicates are well established and organised, thus what is required is innovative, well-connected network across the Africa countries identifying legislative loopholes and weak security architecture to block seamless movement of wildlife crime and proceeds.”

The minister noted that “Today Nigeria heeds to the demand of the international community for a well-structured guidelines, legislation and punishment for wildlife traffickers and other related forest crime perpetrators. The goal is to free Nigeria of wildlife crime.”

He assured that the government would provide all technical and necessary support towards the full implementation of the national strategy.

Also speaking, the minister of state for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, said the strategy is an ambitious tackle environmental degradation, sustain Nigeria’s biodiversity and also help address the issues of climate change.

The country representative of the UNODC in Nigeria, Oliver Stolpe, while giving his remarks, lamented that Nigeria over the past decade has evolved into a primary transit hub for the trafficking of wildlife products, including ivory, pangolin scales and other protected species.

According to him, Nigerian wildlife and forests are under severe threat, with immense amount of rare tropical woods being illegally extracted and smuggled out of the country.

He said, “The UNODC’s 2020 Wildlife Report found that despite Nigeria being home to less than 0.1 percent of Africa’s elephant population, 23% of all elephant tusks seized globally between 2015 and 2019 had been smuggled through the Nigerian ports.

“Similarly, we have seen Nigeria evolve into a major export hub for pangolin scales, with close to 60% of all seizures having either originated or been trafficked through Nigeria.

“Equally concerning, the illicit extraction and export of African Rosewood, locally known as “kosso”. Despite the suspension of legal International trade of Nigerian rosewood by CITES Standing Committee in 2018, illegal logging has continued.”

The UNODC 2020 World Wildlife Crime Report noted that between 2015 and 2018, there was a considerable spike in the volume of kosso exported from Nigeria, with the country accounting for the lion’s share of Kosso exports from Africa. In 2017 alone, over 50% of kosso exports from Africa were traced to Nigeria.

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