DECISION ON AFRICAN WILD FLORA AND FAUNA
CONSERVATION AND ILLEGAL TRADE IN WILDLIFE
Doc. EX.CL/843(XXV)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Commission on African Wild Flora and Fauna Conservation and Illegal Trade in Wildlife;
2. EXPRESSES CONCERN over the unsustainable utilization and conservation of Africa wild flora and fauna and the dramatic escalation of illegal trade in wild flora and fauna in recent years, depriving African nations of their natural capital and cultural heritage thus undermining sustainable development as well as peace, security, rule of law and good governance in the continent;
3. RECOGNIZES that the cross-cutting nature of biodiversity resources require the strengthening of environmental governance systems to prevent illegal trade in wild flora and fauna and trafficking that threatens global peace and security;
4. CALLS UPON the Commission, in collaboration with RECs and Partners, to develop strategies for the protection and conservation of Wildlife;
5. WELCOMES the offer by the Republic of Congo to host the International Conference on Illegal Trade and Exploitation of Wild Flora and Fauna in Africa, and REQUESTS the Commission to collaborate with the Republic of Congo in the organization of the Conference;
6. RECOGNIZES the need for poverty reduction as a long term solution to the problem of poaching and illegal trade in Wildlife;
7. FURTHER RECOGNIZES political instability as one of the root causes of poaching and illegal trade in Wildlife;
8. URGES all Member States to sign and ratify the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora;
9. CALLS UPON all nations to apply zero tolerance approaches, take decisive and urgent actions to strengthen laws and policies, engage communities so as to create deterrence against wildlife criminals and related criminal activities such as corruption, money laundering, organized crime, illicit fire arms, and drugs and terrorism;
10. UNDERSCORES the need to strengthen the national judiciary sector with better awareness, capacity and resources to ensure that prosecutions for illicit wildlife trafficking are conducted effectively, to the full extent of the law and using the strongest penalties available;
11. REQUESTS the Commission, with the support of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN), the African Development Bank (AfDB),
Page 2 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, the Taskforce of the Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Flora and Fauna (Lusaka Agreement), the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) and relevant partners, to prepare an African Common Strategy on Combating Illegal Trade in Wild Flora and Fauna to be reported in the June 2015 Ordinary Session of the Executive Council.