Online Event: The future of fighting against wildlife trafficking in Europe
Thursday 14 October 2021, 15:00 – 17:00 CEST
Online event hosted by:
MEP Eleonora Evi
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Unprecedented levels of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife have greatly increased high-level political attention around the globe to this issue. The EU’s response to this crisis was in part the adoption of the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking (EU WAP) in 2016, a highly valuable instrument that has the potential to be crucial in the fight against wildlife trafficking. As announced in the 2030 EU Biodiversity Strategy, the Commission will revise the EU WAP in 2021 and this is a pivotal moment for all stakeholders to get engaged and make sure that the EU will play an even greater role in the fight against wildlife trafficking both in Europe and globally.
We are already building on important steps like the Council conclusions setting the EU’s priorities for the fight against serious and organised crime for EMPACT 2022–2025 where environmental crime is remaining a priority, and within that trafficking of endangered species. Furthermore, the Environmental Crime Directive is also in a revision process so what better moment to start the conversation.
As a result, the overall goal of this event is to bring together representatives from key authorities and organizations to discuss opportunities for joint efforts to fight wildlife trafficking. The discussion will focus on practical examples of fighting against wildlife trafficking and the revision of the EU Action Plan Against Wildlife Trafficking.
AGENDA:
15:00 – 15:05 SWIPE presentation by Katalin Kecse-Nagy, Programme Office Director – Europe, TRAFFIC
15:05 – 15:15 Welcome remarks by MEP Eleonora Evi (Greens/EFA)
15:15 – 15:25 Intervention by Peter Csonka, Deputy Director, DG JUST, European Commission
15:25 – 15:35 Intervention by Matthias Leonhard Maier, Team Leader for CITES & wildlife trade regulation, DG ENV, European Commission
15:35 – 15:45 Lieutenant-colonel Christian Tournié, Deputy to the Head of OCLAESP in charge of European and International Affairs, OCLAESP French Gendarmerie
15:45 – 15:55 Beate Striebel, WWF Network Sturgeon Strategy Coordinator: “Evidence for sturgeon trafficking and links to the EU WAP”
15:55 – 16:05 Emilie Van der Henst, Project Manager, TRAFFIC: “Successes and lessons learnt from the EUWAP implementation”
16:05 – 16:15 Miguel Godoy, Major of the Guardia Civil
16:15 – 16:50 Q&A discussion with the audience, moderated by Dr. Colman O Criodain, Policy Manager, Wildlife Practice, WWF International
16:50 – 17:00 Summary remarks by Dr. Colman O Criodain, Policy Manager, Wildlife Practice, WWF International
ABOUT SWIPE LIFE PROJECT (LIFE19 GIE/BG/000846)
The LIFE SWiPE project contributes to meeting the political priorities of the LIFE GIE program by supporting the proper implementation of environmental protection legislation in the field of wildlife crime (WLC), in particular with regard to activities under European and national legislation. Through a set of strategic activities, LIFE SWiPE aims to increase the efficiency of the judiciary in law enforcement and combating WLC, thus promoting enforcement and compliance with EU environmental legislation.
The project is implemented by a network of national partners from 11 countries – Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Spain, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary – which consider the fight against wildlife crime a strategic priority.