I’m afraid we didn’t mark World Wildlife Day on LDV last Friday. Fortunately our MEP Catherine Bearder did in an engaging post covering the top wildlife wins and losses in the past year.
She writes:
2016 was a historic year in the global fight against wildlife crime. From the ivory bans to the new CITES protection for over 500 species – there is a lot we can be proud of.
But we would be kidding ourselves if we think the work here is done. Wildlife trafficking is still a top four global criminal activity and the money streams gained from it are often used to fund other illegal operations like arms trafficking and even terrorism.
Wildlife by its nature is unsupervised and therefore vulnerable to the criminal gangs who exploit it for massive profit.
She then lists 10 wins and 8 losses. The wins include the EU Action Plan against wildlife trafficking and several initiatives to ban the sale of ivory. The photo shows the burning of contraband ivory in Kenya two years ago to mark a previous World Wildlife Day.
The losses include reports on the level of plastics in our seas, the decline of bees and deforestation rates across the world.
You can read the full list here.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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