Floraguard: Tackling the Illegal Trade in Endangered Plants In
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FloraGuard Tackling the illegal trade in endangered plants Foreword 1 Foreword The word poaching may not be readily associated with plants, yet illegal collection from the wild poses a direct threat to many of the world’s most iconic plant species such as orchids, cacti and cycads. In recent decades, the trade in illegal live specimens, along with other plant products, has spilled onto the internet, providing illegal traders with a means of reaching a global consumer base, while remaining cloaked in the anonymity and vast scale of cyberspace. Yet the adopting of online technology by wildlife traffickers also presents opportunities to map, understand and counteract this trade. The recent global report from the Intergovernmental Science- Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) identified that direct exploitation of organisms – in which illegal wildlife trade plays a central role – is one of the most impactful drivers of change in nature, second only to changes in land and sea use. Species exploitation is even more damaging to biodiversity than climate change. Safeguarding the natural world against this threat requires innovative approaches and effective collaborations. Led by the University of Southampton and partnered with UK Border Force and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the FloraGuard study took a new approach to meeting this challenge. The study’s findings encompass insights into the criminological mindset of plant traffickers, the use of botanical expertise to identify suspicious online posts and the potential application of cutting-edge artificial intelligence techniques. This level of cross-disciplinarity illustrates the range of expertise involved in the project and the scope for further innovation that exists within the field of online trade enforcement. I am confident that the FloraGuard project will help inspire new alliances between scientists, practitioners and Effectively countering illegal wildlife trade is of critical businesses. Conservation science has a strong track record importance not only for the survival of those species at of applying new ideas within its practices, with the benefits risk, but also for the message it delivers and the benefits to of such a collaborative approach reflected in the pages of responsible trade. Measures to discourage the illegal online this report. Today, developing solutions based on cooperation trade in plants enable genuine online sellers and consumers, and mutual understanding has never been so important, whose enthusiasm for plants is cause for celebration, to trade as we strive for a sustainable future in an increasingly with greater confidence and align with the environmentally connected world. sustainable use of natural resources. In many countries, such as Ecuador and Thailand, this trade brings important It is therefore my great pleasure to introduce FloraGuard, income to livelihoods and often enables the protection of which illustrates the benefits of applying a multi-disciplinary the ecosystems where species are sourced. mindset to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife. Professor Alex Antonelli Director of Science, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Iroko tree being cut near Imbolo, Democratic Republic of Congo FloraGuard: Tackling the illegal trade in endangered plants 3 Contents Foreword .................................................................................................................................. 1 1. Project overview ...................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Project partners .................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 The FloraGuard team ........................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Authors, key contributors and acknowledgements .................................................................. 7 1.4 Research grant information .................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 7 2. Background ............................................................................................................................. 8 2.1 The illegal wildlife trade – a persistent problem ..................................................................... 10 2.2 The CITES regulatory framework ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 14 2.3 The role of artificial propagation in plant conservation ........................................................... 15 2.4 CITES strengths and weaknesses......................................................................................... 16 2.5 Internet-facilitated IWT ......................................................................................................... 18 3. The threat to plants ................................................................................................................. 20 3.1 Internet-facilitated trade in threatened flora ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 22 3.2 Enforcement challenges ...................................................................................................... 28 3.3 Recognition by the international community .......................................................................... 29 3.4 Online platform policies ....................................................................................................... 30 4. Addressing the challenge – an interdisciplinary approach .......................................................... 34 4.1 Insights from criminology ..................................................................................................... 36 4.2 Digital tools and the role of AI .............................................................................................. 37 5. Methodology – developing a new interdisciplinary approach ....................................................... 38 6. Results .................................................................................................................................... 46 6.1 Performance of the methodology ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 49 6.2 Qualitative insights into the internet-facilitated trade in threatened plants ............................... 52 7. Key Findings ............................................................................................................................ 62 7.1 Insights into the internet-facilitated trade in threatened plants ............................................... 65 7.2 The advantages of an interdisciplinary approach ................................................................... 66 7.3 A proposed ICT-enabled approach for investigating internet-facilitated IWT ............................... 69 8. Recommendations – looking to the future ................................................................................. 72 8.1 Development of investigative tools ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 75 8.2 Development of platform policies and other legislation .......................................................... 76 8.3 Awareness raising and behaviour change strategies (‘soft’ approaches) ................................. 76 8.4 Summary of recommendations ............................................................................................ 76 8.5 Final thoughts ..................................................................................................................... 78 9. Glossary .................................................................................................................................. 80 10. Acronyms ................................................................................................................................ 82 11. References .............................................................................................................................. 83 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 86 Appendix A. Species profiles ...................................................................................................... 86 Appendix B. Keywords lists ........................................................................................................ 96 Disclaimer 1 ............................................................................................................................. 100 Disclaimer 2 .............................................................................................................................. 100 1. Project overview Project overview 5 1.1 Project partners The University of Southampton is a global centre for Border Force is a law enforcement command excellence in research and education and a founding within the Home Office. As part of their duties, member of the Russell Group. The FloraGuard project Border Force secures the UK border by carrying out has been developed with the Department of Sociology, customs controls for goods entering or leaving the UK. Social Policy and Criminology and the Department of The Border Force CITES team, based at Heathrow but Electronics and