UN targets wildlife traders in Africa sanctions

THE united Nations (UN) Security Council has targeted illegal wildlife traffickers for sanctions in a pair of resolutions against African armed groups, a step conservationists called unprecedented and a major shift on a problem that has morphed from an environmental issue into a security threat.

A resolution that renewed an arms embargo, travel bans and asset freezes against armed groups in Congo included individuals who support those groups "through illicit trade of natural resources, including gold or wildlife as well as wildlife products".

The Security Council approved the resolution on Thursday, two days after including similar language in a sanctions regime imposed on armed groups in the Central African Republic (CAR).

The conservation group WWF said the resolutions "represent the first times that the UN Security Council has specifically named illicit trade of wildlife and wildlife products in sanctions regimes". The move follows years of warnings from advocates and UN officials that wildlife trafficking, particularly elephant ivory, has increasingly become a source of financing for armed groups.

"It’s a huge step forward," said Wendy Elliott, WWF species programme manager. Wildlife traffickers "are funding the armed groups that are causing the human rights violations, but it is still treated as an environmental issue and that is just not going to work out".

Britain, which will host a summit on illicit wildlife trafficking next month, applauded the Security Council for approving a "sanctions regime which includes targeting those who fuel instability by illegally exploiting wildlife".

"This provides us with another avenue to protect vulnerable species and cut off support to criminal and armed groups," said Iona Thomas, a British government spokeswoman.

US ambassador Samantha Power said, "In recent years wildlife trafficking has become a lucrative business and a source for conflict, so it’s a sign of progress that the Security Council recognises the link between stopping poaching and advancing peace."