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Imperialism and Criminalization

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The Illegal Wildlife Trade

Part of the book series: Studies of Organized Crime ((SOOC,volume 15))

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Abstract

In the twentieth century, the damage from unregulated wildlife trade became transparent as many species became extinct or were on the brink of extinction. Consequently, various moral entrepreneurs emerged to underline the need for regulation. This chapter shows that the effects of these initiatives to protect endangered species were divergent. On the one hand, protecting species was regularly faced with the economic and personal interests of powerful stakeholders stagnating any initiatives. On the other hand, European imperialists enhanced the exclusion of local people in order to protect nature reserves and their species. The legislative development and criminalization of the trade in wildlife in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries will be discussed in its socioeconomic context in order to understand the European interest in species conservation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    One of the most famous US laws regarding the protection of wildlife is the US Lacey Act dating from 1900, originally focussing on the conservation of wild birds, due to the large domestic trade in feathers for the fashion industry. The domestic trade in native species was restricted and the importation of certain wildlife products was protected by foreign laws and banned. Similar legislation was enacted at the same time in other countries such as Australia (1913) and Canada (1914) (Roe et al. 2002).

  2. 2.

    The convention focussed on endangered species instead of background problems in developing countries.

  3. 3.

    Article II.1, CITES.

  4. 4.

    Article III.3.c, CITES.

  5. 5.

    Articles VII.4 and VII.5, CITES.

  6. 6.

    Article III.3, CITES.

  7. 7.

    Article XV.1.b, CITES.

  8. 8.

    Article II.2.a, CITES.

  9. 9.

    Article IV.4, CITES.

  10. 10.

    Article XV.1.b, CITES.

  11. 11.

    Article II.3, CITES.

  12. 12.

    Article V.3, CITES.

  13. 13.

    CITES Appendix I included 630 animal species and 43 animal subspecies in 2013.

  14. 14.

    CITES Appendix II included 4,827 animal species and 11 animal subspecies in 2013.

  15. 15.

    CITES Appendix III included 135 animal species and 13 animal subspecies in 2013.

  16. 16.

    As amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 100/2008, Commission Regulation (EU) No. 791/2012 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 792/2012.

  17. 17.

    Article 16 Regulation (EC) No. 338/97.

  18. 18.

    Article IV.2, CITES.

  19. 19.

    Note that the independence of the police can thereby be compromised.

  20. 20.

    US Department of State, ‘Remarks at the Partnership Meeting on Wildlife Trafficking’, November 8, 2012.

  21. 21.

    The White House Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Executive Order—Combating Wildlife Trafficking’, July 1, 2013.

  22. 22.

    The Guardian, ‘Wildlife crime ranks among trafficking in drugs, arms and humans’, September 26, 2013.

  23. 23.

    BBC, ‘Organised crime sets sights on wildlife’, February 12, 2014.

  24. 24.

    The Guardian, ‘$213 billion illegal wildlife and charcoal trade ‘funding global terror groups’, June 24, 2014.

  25. 25.

    CITES, ‘CITES Secretary-General welcomes adoption of UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice draft resolution recognizing wildlife crime as a serious crime’, April 26, 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Willem Pompe Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Daan P. van Uhm

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  1. Daan P. van Uhm
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Correspondence to Daan P. van Uhm .

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van Uhm, D.P. (2016). Imperialism and Criminalization. In: The Illegal Wildlife Trade. Studies of Organized Crime, vol 15. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42129-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42129-2_3

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