INTERPOL - World Model United Nations

works to coordinate wildlife crime arrests. In July 2009,
INTERPOL aided in the largest international operation—
Operation Costa—targeting wildlife crime in East Africa,
resulting in the seizure of hundreds of tons of ivory and the
arrests of several hundred people. is hugely successful
operation was in response to the request to INTERPOL by
several African Range states for assistance in maintaining
their elephant populations. However, while this success is
certainly praise-worthy, it is important to remember that
environmental issues are far from solved by the successful
capture of perpetrators and conscation of contraband.
As INTERPOL’s Peter Younger explains: “While taking
these illegal items o the market is important, it is not the
whole story…What Operation Costa will also enable law
enforcement both in Africa and further aeld, is identify
the routes being used by smugglers, their connections and
ultimately lead to the arrest of other individuals involved in
these crimes.” 53 e ultimate protection of domestic species
will be in the hands of national authorities, who may not be
best equipped, but are certainly most appropriate and most
conducive to long-term maintenance of sustainable wildlife
levels in their borders.
e UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice (CCPCJ) houses an Open-ended Expert Group on
International Cooperation in Preventing Tracking in
Forest Products, which makes recommendations to member
nations, other UN organs, and international and local law
enforcement on how to combat wildlife crime, among
others. In Resolution 16/1, the Expert Group recommends
fostering international cooperation by prosecuting wildlife
crime under the framework of the UN Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention
against Corruption—two viable frameworks that deserve
further exploration by this committee in its upcoming
session.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Solutions that have become notable in the literature on
wildlife crime are presented below. is list is by no
means exhaustive; indeed, it is imperative to nd even more
exible and creative solutions at the conference in order to
deal with the issue comprehensively.
Overarching Solutions
Studies have shown that increasing detectability is a
better deterrent for crime than increasing punishments. 54
When wildlife tracking activities are rarely detected
or apprehended, the level of punishment becomes less
of a credible threat, negating any positive impact that a
An example of an outdoor media campaign to raise awareness about wildlife tracking in Hanoi, Vietnam (April 2011).
(www.freeland.org)
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