-some anecdotal reports of trafficking between Guyana, Suriname
The illegal trade in wildlife, believed to be worth billions worldwide, represents a serious threat to the survival of many endangered species both globally and in the Caribbean and a four-day workshop that focused on combating this scourge, wrapped up here on Thursday.

Alona Sankar

One of the aims of the seminar, which saw representatives from several Caribbean countries, was to form a regional network of wildlife authorities. The workshop also sought to teach participants the skills to enforce the laws and perform more efficiently and included a field trip. While it was agreed that the workshop was a success, it was the view of some that more field trips should have been included.

The illegal trade in wildlife is comparable to the trade in drugs and weapons and is worth big money to those who engage in the activity, said James Kinney, a Program Communications Officer with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

And although it is difficult to estimate with any degree of accuracy what is clear, is that the financial costs of the global illegal wildlife trade run into billions of dollars and its environmental costs are immeasurable, Kelvin Alie, IFAW Senior Program Officer said. He pointed out that this makes it a very difficult issue for wildlife law enforcement efforts.

Guyana is known to be rich in biodiversity and while the volume of legal trade in wild animals has declined in recent times, it is difficult to gauge the size of the illegal trade, Head of the Guyana Wildlife Management Authority (GWMA), Alona Sankar told Stabroek News. She said that a number of factors were responsible for the decline in legal exports not least bird flu and high transportation costs. Data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)  for the past four years,  show a general decline in virtually all legal wildlife exports from Guyana, though the export of caiman skins saw a big jump in 2007, the last year for which data was available. Markets for Caribbean wildlife are usually in North America, Europe and Asia and currently macaws, two-toed sloths, boa constrictors, tortoises and tarantulas are popular exports.

Sankar noted that in the illegal trade, costs are lower and the traders usually compete for the same species. Anecdotal reports say that there is some amount of illegal wildlife trade between Guyana and Suriname and though this can give an image of smugglers racing over the Corentyne in boats, Kinney pointed out that there are other ways in which the trade is conducted such as purposeful misinformation on permits and misidentification of the wildlife.

Quizzed on whether there has been any recent incident, where illegal exporters have been caught, and whether there is any monitoring in border areas, Sankar said that there has been very few arrests and the Wildlife Division does not have the mandate or the type of resources for that type of monitoring. This, she said, is why the workshop is important as it provides those directly involved, with the necessary tools and knowledge. She noted that the Wildlife Division does go to areas, where the wildlife is caught to speak with the people involved.

The illegal wildlife trade is worldwide in nature and many offences involving protected species are global in scale, potentially leading to the complete destruction of these species and/or their habitats. At the same time, offenders disregard for species survival is accompanied by the cruelty associated with many aspects of their trade – particularly the illegal transport of live species.  Wildlife crime is often not taken seriously by police, customs and judicial authorities, which has led to a lack of investment in resources to support wildlife law enforcement.  Penalties are generally so low they do not impinge on profits, nor do they act as a significant deterrent for future activities, Alie said. “We have to address this issue not only in the Caribbean but around the world”, Kinney commented.

More than 45 customs agents, forestry officials, police officials, veterinarians and wildlife law enforcement officials participated in the seminar which was organized by the IFAW and the GWMA and held at the Regency Hotel. Participants focused on diverse areas such as wildlife crime, CITES, wildlife smuggling techniques and methods of species identification, permit process and fraud detections, physical and forensic evidence management, law enforcement ethics, intelligence process, working with confidential sources, among other topics.

Guyana Customs Manager, Bridgemohan Persaud told Stabroek News that the seminar brought out the importance of inter-agency cooperation. “This will help us share information about the wildlife trade both legal and illegal”, he said. “This training programme also enhances our knowledge so we can be able to train colleagues to equip them so that the wildlife trade can be a sustainable one”, he added. He observed that the seminar had come at an opportune time. In addition to Guyana, the workshop saw participants from Suriname, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.

It was the third wildlife law enforcement training held by IFAW in the region since 2007. The others were held in Trinidad and Dominica.

IFAW is the world’s leading animal welfare organization and it works from its global headquarters in the United States and 16 country offices to improve the welfare of wild and domestic animals by reducing the commercial exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats, and assisting animals in distress. It has projects in more than 40 countries. (Gaulbert Sutherland)