BANGKOK, September 16, 2016 – A five-year, U.S.-sponsored program to combat wildlife trafficking in Asia has significantly increased law enforcement collaboration and public awareness while reducing endangered species sales in several hotspots, experts announced at a press conference in Bangkok yesterday. 

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking (ARREST) program tackled the multi-billion-dollar illegal trade in endangered species amid new signs of positive shifts in consumer behavior.  

“Poaching and the illegal trade of wildlife have far-reaching consequences that have the potential to undermine decades of development gains,” said Beth S. Paige, director of the USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia. “The loss of wildlife and the presence of traffickers affect the safety of rural communities and threaten their livelihoods. Through our support to this project, we were able to raise the alarm about wildlife trafficking and help leaders coordinate for greater action to end this crime.”

For example, training for more than 2,300 officers from 14 countries helped lead to a ten-fold increase in law enforcement actions over the past five years; including over 1,300 arrests and the seizure of more than $150 million in criminal assets. 

Mass communications behavior change campaigns in China, Thailand and Vietnam stigmatized consumption of endangered species, reaching over 40 million people per day at their peak. There has been a clear shift in the mindset of wildlife consumers, said Grace Ge Gabriel, Asia’s Regional Director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, an ARREST partner. “One survey in 2015 showed that the number of consumers with the intention of buying ivory in the future had declined by 38 percent in China when compared to 2013,” she said. 

Going forward, government and civil society stakeholders will continue the work started under the program. “We adopted ARREST training materials about fighting wildlife crime, and are disseminating across the country for our police force to use and our cadets to study,” said Dr. Tran Minh Chat, Deputy Director of the People’s Police Academy of Vietnam.

ARREST featured an alliance of more than 50 government agencies, nongovernmental and civil society organizations working across many parts of Asia to protect species threatened by extinction, including elephants, pangolins, rhinos, tigers and timber.

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