Born Free USA is absolutely delighted to announce that on December 7, 2023, the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Council of Ministers, representing 15 West African nations, formally adopted the West Africa Strategy on Combating Wildlife Crime. This landmark strategy will ensure that all West African countries are equipped to address the illegal trade in wildlife that is threatening a multitude of imperiled species, including elephants, leopards, lions, and sharks.
It has been a long six years to reach this point. Work on the strategy first began in July 2018, when representatives from West African countries identified the development of a formal strategy as necessary for countering wildlife crime in the region. This recommendation followed wildlife crime threat assessment missions to West African countries, which were conducted by national authorities with support from Born Free USA as an implementing partner.
Once the wildlife crime prevention strategy was validated by two leading expert coalitions in 2020, it took three years before the strategy was formally adopted by the Council of Ministers from all 15 West African nations on December 6, 2023.
Wildlife crime is threatening the long-term survival of many plant and animal species in West Africa, with severe risks of localized extinction. Wildlife crime can result in damage to biodiversity, ecosystems, communities, and economies. For example, illegal logging can cause landslides, desertification, and impact supplies of freshwater to millions of people. Illegal wildlife trade also creates opportunities for new pathogens to spill over from animals to humans (such as COVID-19), threatening the health and wellbeing of people across West Africa and internationally.
Born Free USA would like to warmly congratulate ECOWAS member states for adopting the regional strategy, which will support every country in the region with the development of National Wildlife Crime Strategies and Wildlife Law Enforcement Task Forces. The primary mechanism for implementation will be a West Africa Network to Combat Wildlife Crime (WAN).
None of this would have been possible without the tireless support from USAID, firstly from the West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WABiCC) program and then from the West Africa Biodiversity and Low Emissions Development (WABiLED) program. Sincere thanks are extended to USAID for their technical and financial support since 2018.
Born Free USA will continue to work with West African countries, to assist them with implementation of the West African Strategy on Combating Wildlife Crime, and we are confident that it will yield excellent results for wildlife!
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Alice
