Born Free USA works with law enforcement in West and Central Africa to counter wildlife trafficking in the region, providing trainings and resources to those working in the field. But, none of this work could be done without data and information on how and where trafficking occurs.
That’s why Born Free USA helped to organize a series of Threat Assessment missions to 13 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member nations – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo – between 2017 and 2020. The aim of these missions, which lasted one week per country, was to gather data on the location, scale, and structure of wildlife trafficking activities across West Africa.
The Threat Assessment missions were organized in partnership with Freeland with funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change Program (USAID/WA BiCC).
The Missions
During each mission, experts visited and interviewed representatives at main airports and sea ports, border crossing posts, at least one major market, and any other strategic entry/exit or transit points for wildlife products. In Burkina Faso for example, the team also interviewed customs representatives at the railway station.
The missions were organized and led by the local CITES Focal Point/CITES Management Authority. In the majority of cases, the Focal Point or Management Authority also accompanied the experts throughout the mission. Local authorities were asked to schedule interviews and send relevant questionnaires in advance of the missions with representatives from customs, police, and judiciary authorities; fisheries, wildlife, and environment authorities; INTERPOL National Bureau; the CITES Management and Scientific Authority; and relevant local NGOs.
Born Free USA’s Role
Born Free USA’s team designed the Threat Assessment missions, making recommendations on stakeholders to interview, proposing a program for each visit, and developing questionnaires used for data collection. Our team also compiled and translated mission reports; supported authorities in facilitating national validation of the reports; produced original guidance compiling country-specific findings into overarching policy documents that were adopted at the regional level by ECOWAS; and, in some cases, traveled to take part in the missions.
Findings of first mission reports were also used as a primary resource for the development of the West Africa Strategy on Combating Wildlife Crime, which provides a tailored regional response to wildlife crime in West Africa for policy- and decision-makers and includes national guidance on the development of national strategies and enforcement mechanisms to tackle wildlife crime at the national level.
Download Threat Assessment Reports and Strategy Documents
Threat Assessment reports are currently available for Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Nigeria, with others to follow.
The following regional documents have also been approved: