International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC)

The CIC’s mission is to promote and support the conservation of wildlife and related landscapes, local communities, and traditions through sustainable use including hunting.

European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE)

Established in 1977, FACE represents the interests of Europe’s 7 million hunters as an international non-profit-making non-governmental organisation. FACE upholds the principle of sustainable use and has been a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

POP Center Wilderness Problems

The Center’s mission is to advance the concept and practice of problem-oriented policing (POP) in open and democratic societies. Applying this approach to wilderness problems enables law enforcement agencies and other interested organisations such as conservation NGOs to restructure how they identify and solve problems that threaten the sustainability of ecosystems.

LIFE for Danube Sturgeons

The project focused on saving sturgeons. Despite strict legal protection, illegal fishing and trade in meat and caviar from wild sturgeons still endanger the flagship of the Danube. Seven organisations from six countries teamed up to better protection of sturgeons. Together with fishing communities, alternative income sources were researched and developed to reduce the dependency on formerly prestigious but now illegal activities. Law enforcement agencies were supported in building capacity and enhancing their fight against poaching, smuggling and illegal trade. Markets for caviar and sturgeon meat were monitored and informed about legal requirements.

Evidence for trafficking of critically endangered sturgeon in the lower Danube Region

A WWF report of the LIFE for Danube Sturgeons project demonstrating the occurrence of sturgeon trafficking in the Lower Danube Region, specifically in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. It also provides first-time evidence of the scale of poaching and illegal trade, including in wild-caught sturgeons. Its findings were reached by combining official data on illegal fishing activities with the results of a large-scale market survey and wildlife forensic analysis. Regional overview and detailed sections for each of the four surveyed countries are included.

Factsheet about sturgeon trafficking

LIFE Danube for Sturgeons project compiled this factsheet about critically endangered sturgeon trafficking. The findings are based on a unique compilation of evidence revealing the threat of wildlife trafficking on the sturgeon populations in the lower Danube regions. The factsheet provides methodologies of their final report, results and conclusions, and recommendations.