Wildlife legislation has become so complex that prosecutions fail and even specialist enforcement professionals struggle to implement it effectively. Hundreds of birds of prey have been deliberately poisoned with substances such as carbofuran that have no legal use and the Government could easily make possession an offence. The lack of sentencing guidelines on wildlife offences means that some offenders are being neither punished nor deterred in the courts. The CPS is also failing to train its prosecutors to handle complex wildlife cases. Furthermore, the inflexible implementation in UK law of international agreements covering the trafficking of endangered species squanders limited resources. The Government has maintained funding for specialist wildlife crime investigation and enforcement, but this is provided on an ad hoc basis, reducing operational effectiveness. Funding provided to monitor wildlife crime on the internet was too short-term to attract a suitably qualified individual to fill the post. In 2004, the Committee called for a new database to record all wildlife crime but this has still not been introduced. Internationally, this report also examines how the rhino, tiger and elephant are being driven to extinction by growing demand for illegal wildlife products in south-east Asia and China. The Government needs to exert robust diplomatic pressure in favour of the development and enforcement of wildlife law at the next CITES meeting in March 2013. In particular, the Government should focus attention on the damaging effect of 'one-off' sales of impounded ivory, which has been found to actually fuel demand for ivory products, and seek an unequivocal international ban on all forms of ivory trade.

This third edition of UNODC’s quadrennial World Wildlife Crime Report, aims to provide a tool to assess and improve responses to this hugely damaging form of criminal activity. The present report covers trends in the illicit wildlife trade, analyses harms and impacts, probes driving factors, and takes stock of responses. Wildlife crimes are diverse and often devastating in their impact and consequences. They hamper conservation efforts, damage ecosystems, and contribute to undermining our planet’s capacity to mitigate climate change. They also infringe on the essential needs, income opportunities, and cultural rights of local communities, and corrode governance and the rule of law. Global recognition of this damage has grown steadily, and after two decades of concerted action, there is some cause for optimism. There has been tangible success against trafficking of some iconic species, while cross-border cooperation and criminalization of wildlife crime have both improved.

Environmental crime is one of the most profitable and fastest growing areas of international criminal activity. These types of crime, however, do not always produce an immediate consequence, and the harm may be diffused. As such, the complexity of victimization - in terms of time, space, impact, and who or what is victimized - is one of the reasons why governments and the enforcement community have trouble in finding suitable and effective responses. This book provides a diverse and provocative array of arguments, critiques and recommendations from leading researchers and scholars in the field of green criminology. The chapters are divided into three main sections: the first part deals with specific characteristics of some of the major types of environmental crime and its perpetrators; the second focuses explicitly on the problem of victimization in cases of environmental crime; and the third addresses the question of how to tackle this problem. Discussing these topics from the point of view of green criminological theory, sociology, law enforcement, community wellbeing, environmental activism and victimology, this book will be of great interest to all those concerned about crime and the environment.

The Legal Regulation of Environmental Crime - The International and European Dimension provides a timely, comprehensive and holistic analysis of the international and EU legal frameworks aimed at tackling environmental crime. Bringing together a team of leading international and EU scholars with distinct expertise in environmental law and environmental criminal law, the volume discusses current reforms of environmental law at the international and EU levels.

This book examines the role and practical dynamics of governmental environmental law enforcement agencies and individuals who combat environmental crime. It will inform researchers about the 'real world' experiences of practitioners and provide an intellectual space for practitioners to examine critically what it is they do and why.

The essays selected for this volume illustrate the growing interest in and importance of crime that is both environmental and transnational in nature. The topics covered range from pollution and waste to biodiversity and wildlife crimes, and from the violation of human rights associated with the exploitation of natural resources through to the criminogenic implications of climate change. The collection provides insight into the nature and dynamics of this type of crime and examines in detail who is harmed and what can be done about it. Differential victimisation and contemporary developments in environmental law enforcement are also considered. Collectively, these essays lay the foundations for a criminology that is forward looking, global in its purview, and that deals with the key environmental issues of the present age.

"Environmental crime is a growing challenge for policy makers and law enforcers. This is an important and timely study which examines in depth how environmental crime is treated at national level within the European Union and the impact of the 2008 EU Directive on environmental crime on national systems. It will be required reading by anyone concerned with making environmental law more effective." Richard Macrory, Emeritus Professor, University College London The aim of this important new collection is to explore how environmental crime is controlled and environmental criminal law is shaped and implemented within the European Union and its Member States. It examines the legal framework, looking in particular at Directive 2008/99/EC, and the specific competences of the EU in this domain. In addition, it provides a detailed analysis of environmental criminal law in seven Member States, focusing inter alia on the basic legislation, the way in which environmental pollution is criminalised and the main actors in place to enforce environmental criminal law. In so doing, it provides a much needed explanation of the evolution of environmental criminal law in Europe at Union level and how this is implemented in selected Member States.

Environmental Crime in the United States provides an introduction to the laws that govern environmental crime, how these laws are implemented and enforced, and the impact they have had since their passing in the twentieth century and their continued applications. Environmental crimes such as wildlife trafficking, over‐fishing, artisanal mining, and deforestation are lucrative contributors to a global illicit trade market and sources of cheap resources for corporations to exploit. This book presents a review of U.S.‐based laws and regulations regarding such environmental crimes at the state and federal level, combined with examples of international convention or trade agreements which can be prosecuted within the United States. It examines attempts to modify these laws, the exceptions granted to prevent enforcement, and the ability of political and social groups to address inefficiencies of the laws or their implementations. Both criminal and administrative laws are reviewed to assess how laws governing the environment compare to other areas of law that seek to protect and improve social well‐being and public health; this includes a review of how environmental crimes overlap with general crimes, and how these crimes fuel illicit commerce while strengthening international crime syndicates. Trends such as the actions taken by non‐governmental organizations and other entities other than law enforcement to stop environmental crimes such as poaching will be explained, with a discussion of how environmental crimes spurn illicit markets and provide lucrative schemes for international crime rings as well as corporations. This book will be of great interest to students of environmental crime and justice, green criminology, environmental conservation, natural resource management, and environmental law.

Crimes associated with the illegal trade in wildlife, timber and fish stocks, pollutants and waste have become increasingly transnational, organized and serious. They warrant attention because of their environmental consequences, their human toll, their impacts on the rule of law and good governance, and their links with violence, corruption and a range of crossover crimes. This ground-breaking, multi-disciplinary Handbook brings together leading scholars and practitioners to examine key sectors in transnational environmental crime and to explore its most significant conceptual, operational and enforcement challenges.

This book examines trade and trafficking in endangered animal species and how the trade increasingly puts large numbers of nonhuman species at risk. Focusing on illegal trafficking, the book also discusses the harmful aspects of the trade and trafficking which is taking place in concordance with laws and regulations. Drawing on the findings of empirical research from Norway and Colombia, the study discusses how this global, transnational trend is addressed, and features of the trade and the ways in which it is controlled in the two case study locations. It also explores the motives driving the trade, and the consequences in terms of animal abuse and environmental harm. The book discusses whether internationally agreed measures, such as international conventions, actually help prevent the trade. Possible ways to address the harms of wildlife trade are considered, including a total ban. The work draws on a green criminology and eco feminist theoretical framework to provide a broad perspective on concepts such as harm, animal rights, species justice and speciesism.