This year’s High Level Political Forum at the UN will bring a focus to SDG 15: Life on Land, and with it Targets 15.7 Eliminate Poaching and Trafficking of Protected Species and Target 15.C Combat Global Poaching and Trafficking.

The international wildlife trade is now recognised as a serious organised crime and a major threat to biodiversity in major international forums. But on the ground, there is often major neglect of the drivers of poaching, impunity for international traffickers, and complacency around consumption of illegal wildlife products. How do we make practice match the rhetoric?

This event will look at innovative responses that target stages in international trafficking flows: mobilizing communities to prevent poaching at source, addressing trafficking across transit states, and monitoring and disrupting consumer markets. This side event will address progress made in disrupting the illicit wildlife trade, outline key challenges and provide recommendation to member states.