SWiPE report: Most wildlife crimes in Europe go unpunished or undetected

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The most comprehensive picture to date of wildlife crime in Europe produced by the LIFE SWiPE project reveals a lack of monitoring and political prioritization to counter this phenomenon. According to the report, the illegal killing of wild animals, the use of poisoned baits or prohibited methods and equipment for hunting and the illegal trade in wild animals were the most common wildlife crimes found in 11 European countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy , Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Spain and Ukraine.

The revision of the EU Environmental Crime Directive, currently under negotiation, offers a unique opportunity to save iconic and threatened wildlife species from these devastating criminal activities. According to the new SWiPE report, wildlife crime is devastating for Europe’s endangered species and is a growing risk to the economic development and security of our societies, with most cases still going unpunished or undetected. This is one of the main findings of a new report published by the LIFE SWiPE project, “Unveiling the invisible: successes and challenges in the prosecution of wildlife crime in Europe”.

Based on information from 87 institutions contacted in 11 European countries, the report highlights the lack of monitoring of this phenomenon, which makes crimes against nature almost invisible. According to the report, which analyzes data from 2016-2020, most of these crimes in Europe were related to the illegal killing of wild animals (27%), the use of poisoned baits (16%) or prohibited hunting methods and equipment ( 14%) as well as illegal wildlife trade (13%).

Although no wildlife population is exempt from this threat, the bottlenose dolphin appears to be the most targeted species in the entire report. This tiny bird exemplifies the multiple criminal activities ravaging European wildlife: it is killed for “luxury” food in Italy, targeted by “poaching tourism” in Serbia, illegally traded in the Middle East in Ukraine, or captured as a pet in Spain.

Among the species that are often victims of crimes against wild animals we find threatened species of birds of prey and large carnivores. According to the report, the illegal killing of bears, wolves or lynx is primarily the result of perceived or real coexistence conflicts with farmers and hunters, and is also related to trophy hunting.

“Wildlife specimens are not reported as missing as humans are and obviously cannot self-report as victims, so most of these acts go unreported and in all likelihood many more go undetected,” says Roselina Stoeva, LIFE SWiPE project manager. For example, during the study period, in Bulgaria, 4 brown bears were found dead by the authorities and another four cases were made known through media reports or prosecutors’ files. However, during the same period, the decline in the bear population was tenfold – by 80 individuals, from 411 to 329 – with no evidence of increased natural mortality. Even if reported, many cases of wildlife crime have not been prosecuted. On average, 60% of wildlife crime complaints received by prosecutors did not result in indictments or legal proceedings. The most frequently applied sanction was suspended imprisonment.The study also highlights best practices across Europe that could boost the prosecution of these crimes: specialized police units, the use of technologies such as drones or GPS to monitor endangered species, or training dogs to detect poisoning and wildlife crime. All of this improved the detection and investigation of these crimes where they existed and were used. “Wildlife crimes are wildlife crimes against life. To halt biodiversity loss and put nature on the road to recovery by 2030, governments must take bold action to tackle the crimes that threaten our most iconic wildlife, right here in Europe,” says Roselina Stoeva, LIFE SWiPE project manager.

Creating a centralized wildlife crime database, increasing financial resources and improving cooperation across European borders are essential. Legislative loopholes that allow the purchase of illegal hunting gear should be addressed and there should be more significant training and specialization opportunities in the law enforcement and judicial sectors. The Council of the EU has recognized environmental crime as one of the ten priorities for combating serious and organized crime.

The revision of the EU’s Environmental Crime Directive, currently under negotiation, offers a unique opportunity to address this threat to biodiversity. “The European Parliament and the Council must communicate that these crimes will not be tolerated in Europe by ensuring that the revised Environmental Crime Directive is sufficiently strong and ambitious. All major environmental crimes should be covered by the directive and maximum prison terms should be deterrents to deter wildlife crime,” said Audrey Chambaudet, policy officer in the wildlife trade and crime department. wild species of the WWF European Policy Office.

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