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IV. Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Organised Crime

One of the most serious security threats posed by poaching and wildlife trafficking may also be one of the least well documented: their relationship with organised crime. This goes beyond rhetoric on ivory as a conflict resource, and concerns poaching and wildlife trafficking as part of an organised environmental crime industry now considered by some analysts as the largest globally after trafficking in drugs and humans, and counterfeit crimes. National governments and the international community now recognise the problem not only in environmental terms, but also as a serious emerging form of transnational organised crime. Indeed, established organised crime networks appear to be increasingly engaging in wildlife crime as a lucrative – and still relatively low-risk – activity, and many African countries are facing convergence between wildlife trafficking and other forms of crime. This chapter examines the relationship between poaching, wildlife trafficking and organised crime. It argues that this security dimension