Wildlife Crime: Third Report of Session 2012-13, Vol. 1: Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence, Volume 1Wildlife 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. |
Contents
Report | 3 |
Domestic Wildlife Crime | 15 |
Enforcement | 27 |
3 | 43 |
Recording wildlife crime | 54 |
Civil enforcement | 80 |
Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime | 90 |
Conclusions and recommendations | 124 |
Common terms and phrases
ACPO Andy Shipp animals birds of prey Border Force Chair Chief Constable Hyde China CITES Committee conservation Countryside Act 1981 criminal Defra Ed Mitchell elephant endangered species Environment Agency Environmental fish funding gamekeepers going Government habitats hen harrier Home Office IFAW illegal trade impact important intelligence invasive non-native species invasive species investigation issue ivory Janette Ward legislation licences Lord Henley Mark Lazarowicz Martin Caton Martin Salter National Crime Agency National Wildlife Crime Natural England Nevin Hunter NWCU offences organised crime partnership Paul Uppal penalties Peter Aldous poaching police forces prosecutions protected raptor persecution Regulations response rhino horn Richard Benyon Richard Crompton role RSPB RSPCA Scotland Simon Wright SSSIS Stephanie Pendry tackling wildlife crime Tania McCrea-Steele tiger Trade in Endangered wild Wildlife and Countryside wildlife crime officers wildlife crime priorities Wildlife Crime Unit Zac Goldsmith