Polish officials meet for a workshop on wildlife crime

On 17-21 October 2022, a workshop on wildlife crime was held in Goniądz, Poland, by WWF Poland as part of the LIFE SWiPE project. The workshop brought together representatives from the tax and customs service, the police and the prosecutor’s office.

Participants shared knowledge on, among other topics, identifying species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) or methods and techniques of detection and investigation, but also on cooperating with various natural sciences experts whose opinions and reports are usually essential for bringing the perpetrators to justice. During the workshop, participants also learned about the updated law on endangered species. Concrete knowledge gained by the participants will result in a better detection of wildlife crime and more effective enforcement of wildlife crime law.

In their fight against wildlife crime, our agencies and services face significant challenges and are often left without sufficient support. To address this issue, WWF Poland has prepared the “Wildlife Crime in Poland” report, whose findings informed the national workshop in Goniądz. The report includes case studies of crimes committed between 2015 and 2020. What are the most interesting conclusions and how can we help the services to make their operations more effective?