In the wake of the two waves of the ongoing Covid-19 there is a compelling urgency to rethink on the issue of wildlife trade, both legal and illegal, says a top AI expert who runs applications to counter illegal wildlife trade.

In an article posted on asia.nikkei.com, John Gruetzner the Canada based author,  focuses on the upcoming meet of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in October. Scheduled in the southern Chinese city of Kunming it will see voting on the crucial proposal to raise targets for protected land and oceans from the current 17 per cent of the globe to 30 per cent.

The need for this proposal is vital at this time. A new United Nations biodiversity report warns that "humanity stands at a crossroads with regard to the legacy it leaves to future generations," because "biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, and the pressures driving this decline are intensifying."

The complete stoppage of cross-border wildlife trade, with exception of fishing, is a necessary step to protect biodiversity. Even though a stopgap measure it is critical till such time all the countries come together to initiate stronger action on climate change and the rewilding of degraded land.

One significant takeaway from the two waves of Covid-19 waves is that stronger measures and their implementation is mandatory especially in this era of pandemics. It is the opportune moment to ban all cross-border flora and fauna trade in order to minimise the risk of zoonotic diseases and the destruction of biodiversity.

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Even from a purely selfish motive, it must be understood that global natural resources have economic, cultural and spiritual values. A complete stoppage on wildlife trade will help the world to recover from the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic while also helping to reduce the chances of another potential epidemic. The reason being research has proved that the trade and consumption of certain forms of wildlife has a direct link to the spread of deadly viruses among humans.

From the point of view of environmentalists, biodiversity and its protection is important for ethical reasons, while for the pragmatists it is a repository of genetic material for the rejuvenation of agriculture and also a source of new medicines.

There is a practical requirement too to check this illegal global wildlife trade which is estimated to net $23 billion every year. Why? Because it generates an illicit flow of funds used to finance organized crime, money laundering, terrorism, corruption in high offices and criminal logistics chains – all which finally supports the illegal drug trade, the worst bane for the humanity, especially the youth.

Ivory trade has led to massacre of elephants in Africa and India on a large scale (Pic: Courtesy wwf.sg)

Assuming that all the countries do agreed to adopt this goal of complete ban, there are innumerable challenges of both enforcement and implementation. Also it in no way will prevent the reduction of wildlife in protected land and national parks caused by illegal and legal wildlife trade.

The ban on a worldwide level on wild fauna and flora is sure to increase the potential number of species to be smuggled as those which at present come under the ambit of legal trade would also shift to the illegal route. Despite this, it would be easy for the enforcement authorities, namely, police, customs and airlines and shipping companies to identify and crack down on such trafficking by reducing the knowledge base required to track individual species.

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Further, for the non government organisations, it would become easier to disrupt this trade.

At present, policing global wildlife trade requires training. Moreover, it demands a specialist level of understanding of the species list that is kept by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

It is interesting to note that owing to the complexities of adding a species to the CITES list, less than five per cent of the rare species of flora and fauna appear on the list that are subject to trade restrictions. This definitely limits the ability to control the increasing trade of new types of fauna that are deemed to be scarce.

A baby orangutan saved by WWF  from the illegal wildlife trade (Pic: Courtesy wwf.panda.org)

A growing and substantial body of research drives the need for the ban. For instance, the E-Ranger Lab in Canada has been examining the role that artificial intelligence can play in disrupting illegal wildlife trade on the internet. The research reveals that the impact of such a ban would exceed government and civil society enforcement programmes. The ban on all trade can decrease both the complexity and costs of enforcement incurred by government and civil society to prohibit poaching which results from the illegal wildlife trade.

A global ban would also warrant better and swifter enforcement of punitive economic penalties and criminal charges that carry prison sentences by the 196 signatory countries. Further, it is bound to decrease demand and likely to result in better domestic policies which will provide greater protection to borderline species facing extinction.

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The article hopes the adoption of this initiative at Kunming would encourage China to take the lead in diplomatic engagement on the issues. The white paper “Building A Shared Future for All Life on Earth: China in Action” issued recently by them, highlights the common interests among countries and the potential for further international agreement. The ban would be in tune with China's own movement to ban domestic wildlife trade after the initial discovery of Coronavirus in Wuhan in 2019.

Exotic wildlife smuggled from Myanmar seized in Assam

While the challenges to a global consensus on the ban are several yet the start with agreement to commence negotiating is a critical exercise. The article rightly points out that the aim should be to have a clear and legally binding commitment rather than a complex treaty. Agreement on the broad principles underpinning such a ban in accessible and easily understandable terms can be swiftly accomplished.

The carnage of and crime against wildlife animals are well documented and publicised. In this era of pandemic, the world owes to itself and the future, to strengthen international cooperation to curb the rise of the next deadly virus.

Achieving a ban could also be the first step of a renewed global governance process, the benefit of which extends far beyond suppressing the slaughter of wild animals.