The mission of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) is to strength criminal justice systems and provide coordinated support at national, regional and international level to combat wildlife and forest crime.
Go to the official ICCWC website to learn more: https://www.iccwc-wildlifecrime.org
What is ICCWC?
The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime is the collaborative effort of five inter-governmental organizations. The partner agencies to ICCWC are the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the World Customs Organization (WCO).
Frontline officers from national agencies are responsible for wildlife law enforcement and prosecuting authorities who bring criminals engaged in wildlife crime to justice. ICCWC works directly with these authorities to support them, by building long-term capacity and providing them with the tools, services and technical support they need to effectively combat wildlife and forest crime.
About ICCWC
ICCWC Approach
ICCWC Vision 2030 – Towards a World Free of Wildlife Crime
At the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP19), ICCWC launched the ICCWC Vision 2030 and its associated Strategic Action Plan for 2023-2026 . Vision 2030 outlines how ICCWC will work towards a world free of wildlife crime by 2030, following a Theory of Change designed to support and strengthen wildlife authorities, police, customs and criminal justice systems to ensure that they effectively respond to the threat.
Delivery of the Consortium’s activities is overseen by its Senior Experts Group (SEG) in which each of the five partner organizations are represented. The SEG identifies priorities for the implementation of activities, takes decisions on initiatives to support, and oversees overall effectiveness of delivery.
The Consortium uses a light administrative model, with different ICCWC partners leading individually or collectively on key initiatives as agreed within the Consortium. ICCWC's current Strategic Programme for 2016-2020 guides the delivery of its work to combat wildlife crime in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. The current Strategic Programme was built upon the ICCWC Strategic Mission 2014-2016 . These strategies, together with the Letter of Understanding, provide a guiding framework for the implementation and delivery of ICCWC activities since the formation of the Consortium.
Tools & Services
ICCWC's approach focuses on mobilizing a variety of tools and services to build long-term capacity among national agencies responsible for wildlife law enforcement to effectively combat wildlife crime.
ICCWC has developed a range of tools and service available here.
ICCWC Activities
ICCWC conducts and supports a diverse range of activities in many countries and regions across the world, to support efforts and strengthen responses to address wildlife crime.
Operations
ICCWC has coordinated a number of regional and global operations.
Thunder Operations are an annual global crackdown that take place across borders to combat wildlife and forest crime. These Operations have resulted in significant seizures and the arrest of thousands of suspects engaged in the illegal trade of wildlife and timber species. ICCWC also supported network-led operations such as COBRA II (2014) and COBRA III (2015).
Find out more about ICCWC activities here and read the ICCWC Success Stories here.
Wildlife Enforcement Networks (WENS)
ICCWC supports the strengthening of Wildlife Enforcement Networks established at regional and sub-regional levels to support the national agencies responsible for wildlife law enforcement in addressing wildlife crime more effectively, by facilitating increased collaboration and coordination. ICCWC developed the Guidelines for Wildlife Enforcement Networks which outline the key considerations in the development of a new WEN, and provide a self-assessment tool for use by existing WENs to assist in evaluating operational performance and identifying areas that could be further strengthened.
Capacity Building
Through its global network of regional and country offices, ICCWC supports the efforts of frontline officers from national agencies responsible for wildlife law enforcement. Working directly for and with these authorities, ICCWC partners support them by building long-term capacity and providing the tools, services and technical support required to effectively respond to wildlife crime. As a direct result of ICCWCs work, national authorities are in a strengthened position to increasingly respond to wildlife crime. Find out more about ICCWC activities here and read the ICCWC Success Stories here.
Connect with ICCWC on social media and in the news
Social Media:
Latest ICCWC News can be found here.
ICCWC Partners
The partner agencies to ICCWC are the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the World Customs Organization (WCO).
Read more about ICCWC partners here.
Donors
The following donors have generously provided funds to support the coordination and implementation of the ICCWC Strategic Programme – The European Union, France, Germany, Principality of Monaco, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America.