WildAid Joins US Wildlife Trafficking Alliance

WildAid is proud to be an NGO member of the new United States Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, announced by the White House and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell on Wednesday.

This partnership has three primary objectives:

Raise the public’s awareness of the scope of the wildlife trafficking crisis, including the illegal trade’s devastating impact on elephants, rhinos, tigers and other irreplaceable species, and illegal traffickers’ role in funding global corruption and terrorism;
Reduce consumer demand for wildlife and wildlife products (WildAid’s core organizational mission); and
Mobilize companies to adopt best practices to insure that their goods and services are not being utilized by illegal wildlife traffickers, and to assist in raising public awareness and reducing demand.

Via the Alliance website:

The Alliance will be working closely with U.S. government agencies that are addressing wildlife trafficking issues in the U.S, led by the U.S. Department of the Interior and its lead wildlife agency, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Secretary Sally Jewell is leading the U.S. effort for the government, in coordination with other key domestic agencies.

While the primary focus of the Alliance’s activities will be on the U.S. role in wildlife trafficking, some Alliance members also are, and will be, participating in anti-trafficking activities in other countries, in coordination with Secretary John Kerry and his team at the Department of State.