Wildlife Crime - laws

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WHAT IS WILDLIFE CRIME?

Wildlife crime appears in many guises, but can be loosely categorised into three main types:

i) the illegal trade in endangered species;

The import and export of many threatened species is controlled through European Regulations implementing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). More information can be found at Defra.

Internal trade in these species is controlled by the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997.

ii) crimes involving native species which are endangered or of conservation concern;

In the United Kingdom, legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 and the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 give protection to wildlife and important habitats and sites.

Crimes against protected species include killing or taking them from the wild (eg. birds of prey, plants); collecting their eggs or skins for personal collections; trading in them; and taxidermy offences. People destroying nests and breeding sites; bat roosts and other protected habitats can also be committing offences.

iii) cruelty to and the persecution of wildlife species;

Some legislation protects particular species eg. The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Deer Act 1991. The Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 protects wild mammals by making it an offence to cause them unnecessary suffering by certain acts.

Crimes include Badger baiting and other cruelty cases; and illegal snaring, poaching and poisoning. (Defra, 2009)


Nature Conservation Management

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The main offences under the Protection of Badgers Act, 1992, as amended by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act, 2004, are punishable by up to 3 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.


Offence to wilfully kill, injure, ill-treat or trap badgersintentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct setts which show signs of current use by badgers, including seasonal usedisturb badgers whilst they are occupying a settcause a dog to enter a sett.
Wildlife Conservation Network Mission Statement -
Wildlife Conservation Network is dedicated to protecting endangered species and preserving their natural habitats. We support innovative strategies for people and wildlife to co-exist and thrive.

Conservation entrepreneurs showcase powerful models of resolving human-wildlife conflict, but the long-term success of these solutions requires the full-fledged commitment and leadership of local people. WCN's conservationists actively engage local people as effective stewards of their environment and work in a culturally-respectful manner to ensure that conservation skills and values will be passed on to future generations. WCN provides a network of resources to achieve this vision and invests in host nationals as the next generation of conservation entrepreneurs.
International Exposure at the Wildlife Conservation ExpoEvery October, all WCN-supported conservationists from around the world come together for our largest event, the Wildlife Conservation Expo. The Expo gives them the opportunity to share their work and build public awareness of the great challenges their species face.

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Projects

TRAFFIC - the wildlife trade monitoring network, works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.
Oxford, UK 23 December 2009—More than 35 million animals listed in CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) were exported from Southeast Asia between 1998 and 2007, according to a study published this week in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation.
The top animal groups traded were reptiles (17.4 million), seahorses (16 million), birds (1 million), mammals (0.4 million), butterflies (0.3 million) and fish (0.1 million). There were also more than 18 million pieces and 2 million kg of live corals exported. http://www.traffic.org/


National Site Protection Measures
Part II of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Act provides the principle national site protection designation in England and Wales called Sites of Special Scientific Interest or SSSIs.
There are over 4,000 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England, covering around 7% of the country's land area. Over half of these sites, by area, are internationally important for their wildlife, and designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) or Ramsar sites. Many SSSIs are also National Nature Reserves (NNRs) or Local Nature Reserves (LNRs).

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

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Wild fauna and flora (amended by Bonn Convention 1979) CITES

Bats

There are 17 bat species within the UK. They are European Protected Species.The legislation that is in place to protect bats and their places of roost across the British Isles is being flouted and poses a risk to these species. Each bat-related offence carries a potential fineof £5,000 per bat, up to 6 months imprisonment and is arrestable.

NWCU aims to assess bat-relatedcriminality and target any activity that illegally disturbs bats and their protected sites of location.NWCU has an officer in post to overview and co-ordinate Operation BAT. The scale of the problem of bat-related crime is currently being assessed.

Operation BAT is in place to contribute towards the favourable conservation status of all UK bat species by reducing bat-related crime. This will encourage: Prompt action to prevent bat crime happening in first place Promoting a good reaction from law enforcement

· Tackling deliberate disregard of the law · Deterring industry from bat-related crime and any disregard of legislation ·Ensuring compliance in protection of bats and roosts (particularly when involving rare or multiple species)

·Assess the progress of bat-related offences coming to course. Engagement between police, bat workers & Bat Conservation Trust, Crown Prosecution Service/Procurator Fiscal, local authorities, planners, the development sector, consultants and the general public to encourage good relationships to achieve these objectives.

Operation BAT was initially instigated in 2003 when the Joint Nature Conservation Committee helped the Association of Chief Police Officers establish a number of conservation priorities for wildlife crime enforcement - including offences against bats. Training and promotional material was produced.Relevant legislation and information on bats in general can be found from the Bat Conservation Trust

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