This piece with Leo Carter was published in September 2016 in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog: On Sept. 24, South Africa will open the 2016 CITES meeting — a gathering that could help determine the survival of the world’s remaining elephants, as well as other endangered species. CITES, the Convention on International Trade… read more
CITES CoP17: Will China Take the Lead in the Fight Against Illegal Ivory?
Behind the scenes at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Xi Jinping and Barack Obama agreed to enact the Paris climate agreement and a number of smaller policies aimed at reducing emissions from air travel and of hydro-fluorocarbons. Progress on efforts to combat catastrophic climate change prove that, despite their differences… read more
Washington Report
In April 2015, we concluded this year-long research project with presentations in Washington DC. We wrote six papers as part of this project which are proprietary to the client, the Congressional Research Service. Six students — Leo Carter, Caitlin Goodrich, LinhPhung Huynh, Cliff Kaplan, Delfina Rossi, and Wade Tanner —… read more
Craigslist singled out in latest IFAW investigation
Informed by my career at eBay and as a student of the illegal wildlife trade, I have developed a keen interest in how wildlife traffickers use the internet to facilitate transactions. My last post, at least in small part, celebrated the decline of such sales on traditional e-commerce platforms in recent… read more
Wildlife trade shifting from e-commerce to social media
In a previous post several months ago, I discussed how e-commerce sites are a major conduit for the online trade of illegal wildlife products. The International Fund for Animal Welfare has been the foremost organization to monitor the online sale of wildlife products, and their 2014 report “Wanted–Dead or Alive” uncovered $11… read more
The Nature of Ivory Demand: Thailand
Thailand has become the second largest market in the world for illegal ivory, and by some estimates, the world’s fastest growing. Between 2009 and 2011, 10,923 kilograms of ivory was seized coming into the country. From January 2013 to December 2013, ivory pieces on sale at outlets in Bangkok grew from 5,715 to… read more
The Wildlife Trade in China: An Ill-Defined Problem
*This blog is part 3 of a 3 part series. Click here for Part 1—Conditioned Aid: A popular, but problematic policy option or here for Part 2—The Black Box of the Ivory Trade: Ivory Vendors* As I have mentioned in my other two blogs, Ana and I gained great insight on… read more
Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking – Evaluation
Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking In 2005, the United States Department of State created the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) to serve as a “voluntary public-private [international] coalition of like-minded governments and organizations that share the goal of ending the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products.” The CAWT’s three goals… read more
Conspicuous Consumption and Wildlife
Wildlife products are used as a status symbol around the world. Known as conspicuous consumption, the rising cost of certain wildlife products allows users to display wealth and elite status by consuming these products. Such consumption is considered to be one of if not the primary driver behind the recent… read more
Gaps in China’s Wildlife Laws
China’s recent efforts to control the trade of illicit animal products both into the country and within its borders are a positive development. As I mentioned in a previous post on Chinese wildlife enforcement measures, China has one of the best track records in Asia when it comes to border enforcement… read more